With Qatar Airways and other leading airlines going on an expansion spree, Qatar will need 1,200 pilots by 2013, making the demand for commercial pilots surge, said an official of an aviation institution visiting Doha.
“Qatar Airways is expecting delivery of 182 aircraft by 2013 bringing the total number of operating aircraft to 250,” noted Amit Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of Texas-based Supreme Aviation Worldwide, adding that delivery of around 500 new aircraft may be expected by airline companies in the region in the next four years. “Deliveries of aircraft to airline companies around the world are on hold because of shortage of pilots,” Agarwal, who is a commercial pilot himself, told aspiring aviators during a seminar, held at the Movenpick Tower and Suites yesterday.
Besides, the surfacing of new airlines, domestic airlines going international, and regional airlines going domestic are other reasons for the increase in the demand for pilots which has become a global phenomenon, according to Agarwal.
Retirement of captains and commanders is also another factor for the dearth of pilots, he said noting that around 500 to 1,000 pilots retire every year. Titled ‘Be a Pilot’, the seminar provided the participants an idea of the opportunities in the aviation industry, qualifications to enrol in aviation schools, and the process to obtain a commercial pilot licence (CPL).
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=May2009&file=Local_News2009051045852.xml
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