UB plans Rs 200 crore aviation varsity

UB group, the promoter of Kingfisher Airlines, will start an aviation university with an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore.

The university will house 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.

India is facing an acute shortage of pilots and the country would require at least 5,000 pilots over five years.

Jet Airways and budget carrier Air Deccan are also planning to set up aviation training centres, including pilot training centres.

Mallya said, at present, airlines are sending selected candidates abroad for training and getting certified from India.

"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 said the UB Group was relocating its brewery to Taloja (near Navi Mumbai) from current location at Nerul.

"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 has already launched Kingfisher Training Academy as a 100 per cent subsidiary, offering courses in retail, hospitality, aviation and customer services management sectors.

The academy is planning to have 10 more branches in key cities across the country by this financial year-end.

"In fact, we are planning to have more branches in Mumbai alone. However, there is no plan to tie up with any universities as there is n one of the kind. This will be a finishing school for the aspiring candidates," said Mallya.

The campus is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities that offer students a live cabin services simulator -- an Airbus A320 mock-up, classrooms equipped with audio-visual facilities, computer-based training rooms, food & beverage service laboratory and grooming suite.