BHUBANESWAR: Orissa may get a second pilot training institute soon. Private helicopter charter company, MESCO Airlines Limited (MAL), has already obtained the necessary clearance from the Directorate of General Civil Aviation (DGCA) and sought permission from Airport Authority of India (AAI) to set up the facility inside Biju Patnaik Airport here.

"The DGCA has already given us go-ahead for the project. So far, we have been getting manpower from our training institute in Mumbai. But the institute is not enough to fulfil the requirement," MESCO Group Chairman J. K. Singh said on Monday. Mr. Singh said it was decided to set up the pilot training facility in Orissa in view of the boom in the Indian aviation sector in the recent months.

Student enrolment

The group's plan is to take 30 students as pilot trainees and 60 for the flight-engineering department. The institute is likely to start enrolling students from 2008.

"We have long experience of operating low-cost flight services. I am sure the students who would undergo training here will have no problem in getting absorbed," Mr. Singh observed.

Big offer

The MAL has been conducting in-house training for flying, flight engineers and attendant on MI-172 helicopters at its Mumbai facility.

Acknowledging that there was a shortage of flying instructors in the country, he said the group would not hesitate to offer Rs. 5 lakhs for hiring such instructors to impart training at the proposed training unit.

It is to be noted that the state-run Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) at Bhubaneswar has been going through a rough weather due to non-filling of the post of chief flying instructor. The State government has already shown its intention to outsource flying activities from private firms.

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