Air India, India’s leading global airline, today announced the launch of a 600,000 sq ft integrated aviation training academy, the largest in South Asia, in Gurugram, India. The academy is another significant step in Air India’s ongoing transformation and will power the growth of India’s aviation ecosystem over the coming years.

The announcement was made at Wings India 2024, the ongoing airshow in Hyderabad.

The aviation academy will start functioning from this month and aims to train more than 50,000 aviation professionals, including pilots, cabin crew, ground handling, engineering, and security staff, over the next few years.

Air India is also in the process of setting up its own flight schools to train over 500 pilots per year which will cater to the growing in-house requirements. An Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) school, offering comprehensive training for engineering cadets, is also being planned.

Air India is setting up centers for advanced training of pilots in two state-of-the-art simulator training units, in collaboration with OEMs. There will be over 20 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) Bays to support Air India’s existing and future Airbus and Boeing fleet and ensure crew readiness ahead of future aircraft deliveries. The airline today entered a joint venture with Airbus to equip the training center with 10 of the 20 FFS Bays. The Academy will feature simulators of the Airbus A320 Family, A350, Boeing 777, Boeing 787, and Boeing 737 family.

Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India, said: “Our new training academy is a major step forward in making the Indian aviation industry more self-reliant, and to building the aviation infrastructure that India needs as one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. We are delighted to be working with our partners in this journey.”

With world-class equipment and the latest technology, the training academy will provide an immersive industry-best training with safety as a core focus and a vision to become a major aviation training hub in Asia.

The aviation academy will have best-in-class equipment for inclusive training on Safety and Emergency Procedures (SEP) along with service training, grooming, voice, and accent training for cabin crew. Training for ground and security staff will cover key functions such as departure control, customer service, airport security, and refreshers. The academy will also have a management training wing, offering commercial, HR and leadership training. A safety promotion centre, with input from Boeing and Airbus, will be an integral part of the academy to ensure the culture of safety is embedded in every aspect of the training system.