Demand for local pilots increasing

Harshini Perera

With the increase of tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka, the demand for domestic flights as well as pilots in the local aviation industry will increase, said Asian Aviation Centre Director Studies, Dhanajaya Weerasinghe.

Speaking to Daily News Business he said ten to twenty-five pilots are trained in the commercial licence holders category each year by the Asian Aviation Centre. During the last six months passenger traffic has steadily increased raising the demand for local pilots in the industry.

"There will be a demand from high end tourists who are keen on flying straight from Bandaranaike International Airport to the destination they intend to visit. Therefore, Pilots are in demand with increasing tourism. The destinations of tourist attractions such as Ampara and Jaffna will be popular and we hope to double the number of pilots trained," he said.

"There is a demand for pilots trained in Sri Lanka in the international market and since India, China and Middle East markets are growing there will be more opportunities. A foundation degree with the partnership of Kingston University, will be offered to Pilots trained by the Asian Aviation Centre," he said. The opportunities open to pilots were less during the past few months because the airlines were reluctant to deploy many aircraft.

Therefore, there was a shortage of opportunities for pilots. Women too have been given opportunity in the Asian Aviation Centre to become pilots as that is the trend at present, he said. He said that the Asian Aviation Centre is also expecting to launch chartered domestic flights targeting up-market tourists and the business community.