Kingfisher Aviation University, a pilot training school from Kingfisher Airlines of Vijay Mallya's UB Group is on cards. Kingfisher plans to set up the pilot training facility at Nerul in Navi Mumbai, on the outskirts of Mumbai city. Kingfisher will be investing Rs 200 crore to set up the pilot school.

Currently, airlines in India are facing a huge shortage of trained pilots. There are few pilots produced by the existing flying schools and academies in India. Many airlines hire pilots from abroad. Others train their pilots abroad and get them certified in India. This is an expensive process for the airlines in India, which are already reeling under huge losses.

According to sources, the Kingfisher Aviation University will be fully-equipped with state-of-the-art flight simulators. Vijay Mallya said at a function in Mumbai on Monday that the Aviation University will provide comprehensive training to aspiring pilots.

UB Group currently has real estate at Nerul in New Bombay at an existing UB Brewery. The plot came into Mallya's possession when UB acquired Associated Breweries which functioned from this location. Now, Kingfisher plans to move the brewery and the facilities to Taloja in Navi Mumbai and set up the flying school in the vacated property.

Besides Kingfisher, rival airlines Jet Airways and Air Deccan are also planning to set up aviation institutes in the country. However, with Kingfisher Aviation University, Mallya hopes to become the first off the block to start the flying academy.

India is expected to have a requirement of 5,000 pilots across a period of five years. The sudden aviation boom in India has left the industry with congested airports, creaking infrastructure, badly-trained airline staff, soaring staff salaries and huge losses.

"Flying schools such as Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi in Rai Bareli and other institutes in Baramati and Gondia are not sufficient to meet the demands of the domestic aviation industry,” Vijay Mallya was quoted as saying in the Business Standard.

UB group on Monday launched the Kingfisher training Academy at Andheri in Mumbai, which will provide finishing training to professionals in various customer service, retail and hospitality sectors. Kingfisher hopes to set up ten such academies in India in a year. A six-month course at the Kingfisher Academy will cost Rs 10 lakh in course fees.

Rajesh Verma, vice-president, inflight and catering, Kingfisher Airlines will head the training academy. Several former executives from Jet Airways personnel have reportedly joined the academy in senior positions. The academy plans to train 2,000 professionals in a year.
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