Air India to Establish Training School in Amravati, Operational by Early 2026

On Monday, Air India revealed its plans to create a flying training organization (FTO) in Amravati, Maharashtra, aiming to make it operational by early 2026. The company asserts that this will be the largest facility of its kind in South Asia.

The FTO, located at Belora airport in Amravati, will aim to train 180 commercial pilots each year. Air India stated that this DGCA-licensed FTO will be up and running by the first quarter of the fiscal year 2026.

This will be the first FTO established by an Indian airline in the country. The training school will feature 31 single-engine aircraft and 3 twin-engine aircraft for pilot training, according to a company statement.

Campbell Wilson, the managing director and CEO of Air India, said, “The FTO at Amravati will be a major step towards making Indian aviation more self-sufficient and providing more opportunities for young people in India to achieve their dreams of becoming pilots.”

Air India won a tender from the Maharashtra Airport Development Company to set up and run this DGCA-licensed FTO in Amravati for 30 years.

Sunil Bhaskaran, director of the Aviation Academy of Air India, added, “The FTO will give aspiring pilots the chance to train with world-class curricula, comparable to the best global schools. We are excited to contribute to building the aviation infrastructure that India needs as one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets and to support the government’s vision for a self-reliant India.”

Last month, aviation consultancy CAPA highlighted the industry’s manpower shortage in its outlook report. Kapil Kaul, CEO of CAPA India, noted, “The shortage of pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, cabin crew, flight dispatchers, and others is more severe than currently estimated or visible.” He also mentioned that new flight duty time limitations guidelines expected to be implemented this year, along with poaching by Middle Eastern carriers, could worsen the labor shortage issue.

Earlier this year, Air India announced its new training academy in Gurugram, which spans 600,000 square feet and is the largest in South Asia.