Akasa Air expands Gurugram aviation training centre; check details here

India’s youngest airline Akasa Air inaugurated phase two of its training and development centre ‘Akasa Air Learning Academy’ in Gurugram on Monday to train its pilots, cabin crew, engineers and airport services and security personnel.  

This comes at a time when India has become the fastest growing aviation market and third largest market globally after the US and China, but the country suffers from poor quality of aviation training and infrastructure, especially of pilots and co-pilots, experts have pointed out.  

Akasa Air, which launched its first commercial flight on in August 2022, had invested in a 14,000 sq feet learning academy in July 2022 to deliver training on various aspects of safety, service, and quality.  

The new facility adds 20,000 sq. ft of learning capabilities for Akasa Air to train over 700 future-ready aviation professionals, according to a press note. 

"The significant financial investment that we have made will pay rich dividends for multiple years to come. The academy will not just mould our employees to become the champions of Akasa culture and values but also develop a future ready workforce to gain a competitive advantage in the aviation landscape,” said Vinay Dube, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Akasa Air. 

Indian airlines have placed an order for at least 1,115 planes to be delivered over the next decade, with a bulk of them expected to come in 2025 onwards. For instance, Akasa Air has placed an order of 72 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes. 

Experts estimate 17,000-18,000 pilots are required over the next decade. That is, 1,700-1,800 per year on an average. But the DGCA registers only 600-750 Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) holders every year.  

There are only 35 DGCA-approved Flying Training Organisations (FTOs) and seven approved simulators in India. An estimated 30-40 per cent of aspirants go abroad for pilot training, especially to Europe, New Zealand and Australia. The high costs of training also mean that many of them prefer staying back.

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