The Telangana State Government is eyeing nearly 100 acres of land at Hyderabad’s Begumpet airport to set up an “Aero campus” to cater to the demand for skilled aviation professionals.

With the aerospace and defence sectors taking off in the state, a request has already been made to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by the Telangana Infrastructure and Investment department to allot the land parcel on the southern side of the old airport in addition to two hangars.  

Telangana infrastructure and investment department, Director of Aviation, VN Bharath Reddy said “The government wants to set up an aero campus that includes a skill development centre to offer aviation programmes of international standards as well as a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. It has also requested the Centre to hand over some buildings under the AAI’s control, including two hangars.”

The officials said, there is a growing demand for skilled aviation professionals with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) already setting up aerospace and defence manufacturing units at Adibatla in partnership with aerospace giants like Boeing, Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin.

The aviation director added that, “The government is planning to tie up with aviation biggies to offer courses in skill development in aeronautical engineering, aviation security, aviation fire-fighting and cabin crew training. In the next five years, the aviation sector will have a bright future as the Centre is also encouraging expansion of airline services to smaller cities.”

The government would require at least two hangars at the airport. And currently, there are four hangars- two belonging to Air India, and the other two are with AAI. The government also had two hangars, but they were devastated in December 2012.

A senior industry department official said, “We are hopeful of a positive response from the civil aviation ministry soon. The land issue was also discussed at the officers’ level during a review meeting of the civil aviation ministry held recently in Delhi.”

The Begumpet airport, which was fully operational till 2008, is now confined only to VIPs and defence related operations, after the new international airport at Shamshabad became operational.

SUPRAJA