Air India, in collaboration with the Maharashtra government, will set up a flying school or Flying Training Organisation (FTO) at Amravati in Maharashtra. Targetted to be operationalised by early next year, the school aims to graduate 180 commercial pilots every year.

Air India, India’s largest international airline, has announced 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), a company owned by Maharashtra government. 

According to a press statement by the airline, the Air India FTO, the first by any Indian airline in the country, will have 31 single-engine aircraft and 3 twin-engine aircraft for training.

It says that this FTO will serve the ambitions of the airline as it moves ahead in its transformation journey and strengthen the available pilot training capacity in India.

The airline says that 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.

Air India has been awarded a tender by the MADC to establish and operate the facility for 30 years.

“The FTO at Amravati will be a significant step towards making Indian aviation more self-reliant and offering more opportunities to the youth in India to fulfill their ambitions of flying as pilots,” says Campbell Wilson, MD and CEO, Air India.

“The young pilots coming out of this FTO will fuel Air India’s ambition of becoming a world-class airline, as it moves ahead in its transformation journey,” Wilson adds.

“The FTO will be operational by Q1 FY26 and offer aspiring pilots an opportunity to undergo training with world-class curricula at par with best-in-class global schools,” says Sunil Bhaskaran, Director, Aviation Academy, Air India.

“We are delighted to be playing a part in building the aviation infrastructure India needs as one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets and to support the government’s vision for an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” Bhaskaran adds.

“This collaborative initiative between MADC and Air India will not only boost the economy of Maharashtra by focusing on over 3,000 new employment opportunities within the aviation sector, but also create employment in multifarious allied activities in skilling, technical and small entrepreneurial ventures culminating in an impressive contribution of over INR 10 billion to the state’s GDP over the next decade,” says Swati Pandey, Vice Chairperson and Managing Director, Maharashtra Airport Development Company.

“The establishment of South Asia’s largest FTO will certainly encourage students in Maharashtra to pursue careers in aviation which would further instill a deep sense of inspiration and pride for the state of Maharashtra and the Indian citizenry,” adds Pandey. 

At the FTO in Amravati, Air India says it will develop a state-of-the-art training institute over 10 acres, with digitally enabled classrooms, hostels at par with global academies, a digitised operations centre, and its own maintenance facility to elevate operational efficiency. The FTO is curated to deliver the highest safety standards and best-in-class training.

As part of its commitment to invest in aviation training, Air India earlier this year announced its new Training Academy, spread over 60,000 sqm, the largest in South Asia, in Gurugram. This new FTO in Amravati will complement Air India’s commitment to power India’s aviation ecosystem in the coming years, the statement adds.