GCC, India aviation sector needs 3,000 new pilots a year to 2015

Dubai: The growth of the aviation sector in the GCC and India is such that 3,000 new pilots will need to be trained each year until 2015, according to president and CEO of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) University, George Ebbs.
The GCC and India is the university’s primary focus and growth in the region’s aviation sector has been the impetus behind the setting up of an aerospace university.
In the civil aviation sector more widely, an aviation and aerospace market research firm has estimated the GCC and subcontinent will need to fill 700,000 skilled positions by 2015, he noted.
But while the university’s priority is to fill the requirements of the industry in the GCC and India, it has, as a secondary focus, the whole MENA region, followed by South East Asia and South China, said Ebbs.
The inaugural students, 21 in total, commenced their course in September and will graduate during the 2010-2012 academic year. Next February, DAE University, which is based in Academic City, will open a new division, the DAE Flight Academy at Ras Al Khaimah.
The programme will deliver highly qualified first officer candidates in an accelerated 12 to 14 months, said Ebbs.
15/11/07 Lucia Dore/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates