India: UB Group plans Rs 200 crore aviation university at Navi Mumbai

The UB Group, promoters of full-service carrier Kingfisher Airlines, will start an aviation university at an estimated cost of Rs200 crore, Domain-B reported May 22. The proposed university will also have a fully equipped pilot training centre.

"The pilot training centres would be set up on the lines of flying schools in the country. The university would have all kinds of simulators to extend comprehensive training to aspiring pilots," said UB Group chairman and Kingfisher Airlines CEO Vijay Mallya.

Kingfisher's move to set up such a facility comes on the back of plans announced by other airlines such as Jet Airways and budget carrier Air Deccan to set up aviation training centres, including pilot training centres. Indian carriers are planning these moves in order to tackle a massive shortage of pilots in the country. According to most estimates the country would require at least 5,000 pilots over five years.

According to Mallya, current arrangements being undertaken by airlines, whereby selected candidates are being sent abroad for training, before getting certified from India, is proving to be very costly.

"This is becoming a costly affair for airlines. The 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," he said.

Mallya also revealed that the UB Group was relocating its brewery to Taloja, from its current location at Nerul in Navi Mumbai. "This location would be used for the aviation university. The readily available land will certainly speed up the process of setting up the institute," he added.

The group is already operating the Kingfisher Training Academy as a 100 per cent subsidiary, offering courses in retail, hospitality and aviation and customer services management sectors. According to Mallya, the academy is planning to have 10 more branches in key cities across the country, by the end of the financial year.