The head of plane maker Airbus says Asia is facing a critical shortage of trained pilots over the next two decades.
"We believe that we will require close to 200,000 pilots for the region, whereas there are only 65,000 right now, in the next 20 years," said Fabrice Bregier, Airbus president and CEO.
Bregier unveiled the Airbus Asia Training Centre (AATC) in Singapore in partnership with Singapore airlines, aimed at reducing the gap in years to come.
"There is a shortage of good, trained pilots and this is due to the growth of the region. Instead of sending the pilots to France or America, it is much better and efficient for everybody to have a centre in Asia," Bregier said.
The Singapore centre will be the biggest yet for Airbus which also has similar facilities in Toulouse, France, China and Miami.
Bregier said air traffic will grow by an average 10% over the next five years in mainland China, with similar growth expected in other key Asian markets.
Airbus’ rival Boeing also predicts similar growth in the region with more than 100 million additional passengers in the Asia aviation market for each of the next few years.
