Overview
- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued a Certificate of Approval that formally allows the Air India Flying Training Academy at Belora Airport to start operations.
- The campus is about complete with hostels, classrooms, hangars, maintenance facilities and three flight simulators to support ground and procedural training.
- A 34-aircraft fleet is on site, made up of 31 single-engine Piper Archers and three twin-engine Diamond DA42 NGs equipped with Garmin G1000 NXi avionics and ADS-B.
- The academy plans an 18-month Commercial Pilot Licence course that requires 200 flying hours—185 on single-engine planes and 15 on multi-engine—and intends to keep roughly six trainees per instructor; an initial intake of about 180 students is reported as likely but still subject to final formalities.
- Located at Belora with more than 300 usable flying days a year, the academy aims to boost India’s pilot training capacity and position the site as a regional training hub, which could ease pilot supply constraints for Indian carriers.