New Training Aircraft Unveiled in India Amid Forecast Need for 25,000 Pilots

India – Union Minister for Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh has warned that India will require 25,000 pilots over the next 10 years to support the country’s rapidly expanding airline fleet, stressing that failure to scale domestic pilot-training capacity will force India to depend on foreign pilots. The remarks were made during the unveiling of the production version of the Hansa-3(NG) trainer aircraft at CSIR–National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bengaluru.

• India currently has 6,000–7,000 active pilots, while Indian airlines collectively hold more than 1,700 aircraft on order, driving an unprecedented demand for cockpit workforce expansion.
• Dr Singh highlighted that the country must accelerate domestic pilot training to match fleet induction or risk long-term dependence on overseas labour markets.
• The Hansa-3(NG) is a two-seat next-generation trainer aircraft developed by NAL and commercialised with Pioneer Clean Amps (PCA). PCA will establish a manufacturing facility in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh, targeting 70–100 aircraft per year and employing around 250 personnel.
• The aircraft is intended to meet the demand from flying clubs and ATOs for PPL and CPL training platforms and is positioned as an Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative supporting indigenous aerospace manufacturing and training infrastructure development.

Source: Ministry for Science & Technology