This Gurugram-based institute trains pilots to aim for the sky

Flight Simulation Training Center (FSTC) in Gurugram hopes to be the first private hub for pilot training in the subcontinent

In 2011 two pilots — Captain Sanjay Mandavia and Captain Dilawer Singh Basraon — noticed a growing gap in India’s aviation market. The country had no shortage of commercial pilot licence (CPL) holders poised to join an airline or an air operator, but there was an acute shortage of skilled, type-rated pilots with the certification to operate a particular type of aircraft.

Apart from the simulator-training programme run by Canadian firm CAE Inc in Bangalore, CPL holders had few options to get type-rated in India. The training at CAE was quite expensive as well. So most pilots headed abroad to get