BANGALORE: U.S.-based American School of Aviation (ASA) on Thursday launched its Bangalore operations by appointing AvOMATS, an aviation consultancy in Bangalore as its business associate.

Realising the huge demand for pilots in India with the opening up of the skies to private airlines, ASA has opened up a facility in Gurgaon near Delhi to offer preliminary training to aspiring pilots. They will then be offered academic and flying training for eight to 10 months at the ASA facility at Atwater, California.

Speaking to presspersons here on Thursday, Reny Kozman, vice-president, ASA, said, "Bangalore is, and will continue to be the national centre for aviation activities, with major brands of the private sector in the process of making Bangalore their main hub of activities."

Over 45 pilots trained by ASA were already flying in the Indian skies, and the ASA was planning to train over 1,000 Indian candidates by December, she said. Lalitha Krishnamurthy and Arvinder Singh, Directors of ASA India, said, "India has just 900-1,000 pilots to fly more than 250 aircraft, with six aircraft added every month. While almost a quarter of the pilots are foreigners, the scheduled airline sector alone needs at least 400 pilots a year, but gets barely 100 new pilots. The country needs about 5,000 pilots in the next 5-7 years according to industry estimates."

ASA offers the Indian Special Flight Training Program (ISFTP) and Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) Programme, which are of eight and 10 months duration respectively. These programmes are open to youth aged 17 and above who have completed the 10 Plus Two level with mathematics and physics. They should be proficient in speaking and understanding English, both generic and specific to the profession.

Mr. Singh said that ASA and Kingfisher Airlines had entered into an arrangement to recruit young pilots. For details, contact AvOMATS, 19, First Floor, 1st Cross, 10th `A' Main, Indiranagar II Stage, Bangalore 560 038, Ph: 080-4126 7243/44, 93420 90944 and 98862 12161.

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