World’s first integrated aviation university in Bangalore

Sydney: The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) and the Bangalore-based Subramanya Construction and Development Company (SCDC) Monday signed a joint venture agreement to set up the world’s first integrated aviation university and training campus in the Karnataka capital. The Sydney-based CAPA, a globally recognised provider of industry research and analysis, and SCDC will invest $125 million to develop CAPA AeroPark on a 50-acre site in Bangalore by 2012.
The fully developed campus will have state-of-the-art academic facilities together with full flight simulators, a flying school, engineering workshops and laboratories, research centres, accommodation for students and faculty, recreational facilities, a hotel and convention centre.
The university would have satellite academies in Delhi and Mumbai for airline and airport management, pilots, engineers, air traffic controllers, cabin crew and regulators.
“There is an emerging global shortage of skilled human resources in the industry, which is particularly acute in rapidly emerging markets such as India and neighbouring regions. The aviation industries in India and the Gulf alone are expected to see investment in excess of $200 billion over the next decade and availability of skills is critical to support this,” said CAPA Group Executive Chairman Peter Harbison.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the Asia Pacific region now has training capacity to meet only 35 percent of its annual requirement of almost 14,000 pilots- an annual shortfall of 9,000.
The CAPA AeroPark Masterplan has been developed after consultations with airlines, airports, governments, universities and aviation training providers from around the world, and on-the-ground study of currently available training infrastructure in India.

01/11/10 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times