Air India has placed an order for 34 trainer aircraft for its cadet pilots at the Flight Training Organisation (FTO), which is set to commence operations in Maharashtra’s Amravati by the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approvals, the airline announced on Thursday.

The order includes 31 single-engine aircraft from Piper Aircraft of the United States and three twin-engine aircraft from Diamond Aircraft of Austria.

“The FTO, that will be South Asia’s largest, is a leap forward in Air India’s commitment to bolster its training infrastructure as part of its Vihaan.AI transformation program and cultivate a pipeline of pilots as it expands its fleet, becoming self-reliant,” the airline said in a statement.

The training school will come up at Amravati’s Belora airport and will target to graduate 180 commercial pilots every year.

The trainer aircraft, which are due for delivery starting 2025, are equipped with glass cockpits, G1000 avionics systems and Jet A1 engines that will ensure advanced training for aspiring pilots.

“The new FTO in Amravati is a strategic move to exponentially expand our training infrastructure and our commitment to building a self-reliant ecosystem of qualified pilots for both Air India and the Indian aviation industry,” Sunil Bhaskaran, director of Aviation Academy of Air India, said.

“With this order, 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,” he added.

At the Amravati FTO, Air India is also developing a training institute spanning 10 acres, which will have digitally enabled classrooms, hostels, a digitised operations centre, and its own maintenance facility to elevate operational efficiency.

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