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SIA and Airbus have opened a new pilot training school in Seletar, amid a growing demand for cockpit crew in the region. The move is expected to further boost Singapore’s status as a key aviation hub, industry analysts said. When fully operational by 2019, the 9,250 sq m facility at Seletar Aerospace Park will be Airbus’ fourth and biggest training centre. The US$100m facility in Singapore will eventually have 8 full-flight simulators and 6 fixed cockpit training devices as well as classrooms. It will have the capacity to train more than 10,000 people a year The Airbus Asia Training Centre is 55% owned by Airbus, with the rest owned by SIA. It is a key investment for the airline, said SIA CE Goh Choon Phong, and in line with the carrier’s "transformative strategy to go beyond the core business into adjacent areas". <br/>

Air India is expected to report an operating profit of INR80m-100m in FY16, the first since the erstwhile Indian Airlines was merged with it in 2007, a senior executive confirmed. Consequently, the carrier’s losses would be limited to around INR26b-28b, significantly lower than in FY15 when they were INR55.74b. “This is the first year since the merger that we will make a small operating profit,” the executive observed, adding that the airline is looking to add flights both on international and domestic routes. Air India’s revenues for FY16, however, are expected to remain flat since yields on both domestic and international routes have fallen following lower ticket prices. In FY15, Air India reported revenues of INR197.81b and an operating loss of INR21.71b. <br/>