Air India

Air India to set up South Asia’s largest flying training Organisation at Amravati Maharashtra.
Air India to set up pilot training school at Amravati.
Tata Group-run Air India is setting up South Asia’s largest Flying Training Organisation (FTO) at Amravati in Maharashtra as part of an initiative by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC).
The DGCA-licensed FTO at Amravati’s Belora airport will be operational by Q1 FY26 and will target to graduate 180 commercial pilots every year.
The Air India FTO will have 31 single-engine aircraft and 3 twin-engine aircraft for training. The MADC awarded Air India a tender to establish and operate the FTO for 30 years.
Air India on Monday said that it is setting up South Asia’s largest Flying Training Organisation (FTO) at Amravati in Maharashtra as part of an initiative by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC). This is a major shift in strategy on how Indian airlines have looked to train its pilots- where till now major carriers like IndiGo, SpiceJet have set up branded training programs affiliated with independent flight schools in India and abroad. For instance, IndiGo has a tie up with seven flight schools.
While Air India is starting its own pilot training school, the GMR group that owns the country’s largest airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company, GMR Aero Technic, has invested Rs 50 crore to start its own school for engineers.
Sunil Bhaskaran, Director of Aviation Academy, Air India said that the training institute will be operational by Q1 FY26 and will target to graduate 180 commercial pilots every year.
The quality of training in flying schools in India leaves a lot of gap and Air India wants to ensure quality in its next generation of pilots, said a senior executive at the Tata Sons-owned airline.