GUWAHATI:
Red Bird Flight Academy (RBFA), the Northeast region’s first commercial pilot training academy, on March 25, announced that it will start training commercial pilots at Lilabari Airport in Assam’s Lakhimpur district from mid-April.
The academy has been set up under the Atmanirbhar initiative of the Union government to train pilots within India and to reduce cash flow to foreign training schools. Because of the scarcity of training academies in India, pilots go to the US and New Zealand to get Commercial Pilot License (CPL).
A senior official of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said that the first batch of 20 trainees will be given training in the academy from mid-April onwards, involving theoretical training on air navigation, aviation meteorology, to name a few, with 200 hours of flight training for each candidate.
Taking to the microblogging site, Lilabari Airport, on March 22, said, “Most awaited day of #Lilabari and NER, finally two flying machines have arrived today at Lilabari Airport for Redbird Flying Training Academy to empower the youth for brighter future with wings. Both aircrafts were greeted with the traditional water cannon salute (sic).”
HK Shinde, the airport director, said, “The Academy will offer CPL to 200 trainees each year. Aspiring commercial pilots from anywhere in the world, especially from South-East Asian countries, will be able to train at the Academy.”
“More importantly, it will be a major help for commercial pilots looking to pursue a career here in the Northeast region,” he added.
It will have state-of-the-art trainer aircraft with modern avionics, similar to airliners line, Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The Red Bird Aviation, in collaboration with AAI, has already built the infrastructure comprising a hanger and taxiway, with the apron nearing completion.
Notably, AAI has given land to RBFA on lease for 25 years and will provide basic facilities, including safety and air traffic management for the Academy.
The RBFA has got approval from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for three flying training organisations (FTOs), including Lilabari Airport, in the country.