Air India Training Academy CEO Shares Update on 4 Pillars Highlighting India’s Pilot Training Infrastructure Expansion

India – Air India has formally inaugurated the Air India–Airbus Training Center, one of four key pillars of the Air India Aviation Academy, marking a major milestone in the airline’s broader aviation education and training expansion strategy. The inauguration was led by India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, alongside Air India CEO Campbell Wilson and Airbus CEO of Commercial Aircraft Christian Scherer. The ceremony was attended by members of the Global Airbus SE Board, senior officials from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation and the DGCA, as well as ambassadors from France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, the EU, and the UK.

• The Air India–Airbus Training Center will serve as an advanced simulator hub for Air India’s Airbus fleet and represents the first operational component of the carrier’s integrated training ecosystem.

• The inauguration coincided with the Airbus Global Board’s visit to India for its official meeting — a reflection of the growing strategic partnership between Airbus and the Tata Group-owned airline.

• Air India Training Academy CEO Sunil Bhaskaran confirmed that the airline’s Boeing fleet simulator center is set to open in the coming weeks, completing the dual-platform simulator infrastructure for both aircraft types.

• Mr Bhaskaran additionally shared the 4 pillars of the Air India Training Academy
  • "The ATOs (Approved Training Organizations) for advanced simulator training for pilots of our Airbus and Boeing fleet (the above facility is part of it)
  • The Air India Training Academy for classroom and mock-up training (for safety and customer service trainings) which is already training ~2000 Air Indians every day at the Gurugram campus
  • The Air India Flying Training Academy (ab-initio Flying Training Organization) - which should be up and running by Q4 FY26 at Amravati, Maharashtra and
  • The ab-initio AME school (Basic Maintenance Training Organization) which will start in FY27 in Bengaluru, Karnataka"

Source: Air India Training Academy (Sunil Bhaskaran)