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: As the economy expands and flying becomes affordable, the aviation industry is throwing up a plethora of job opportunities. The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that India will have at least 1.5 million openings in the industry and related sectors by 2010.

It is estimated that by 2020, airports in the country would handle 100 million passengers including 60 million domestic passengers. The industry is facing acute shortage of trained personnel and the demand-supply mismatch has thrown open opportunities for training institutes for air hostess and ground personnel and they are mushrooming across the country spinning good business.

Says Rajat Bhatia, a pilot with a leading private airline, “It’s what the BPOs were to youngsters a few years back. The aviation industry is today the hottest job option for most youngsters.” And thanks to the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, the industry is all ready to hit another high of sorts.

In fact, a 2007 Assocham Business Barometer study says that disciplines like retail, aviation, hospitality and brokerages offer high growth potential for students aiming for a rewarding career. The study says the industry is growing at 25% per year, creating abounding job opportunities.

Every aircraft which has the seating capacity of 200 passengers employs about 60 people. This includes airhostesses, pilots, co-pilots, engineers and maintenance staff. India already has about 380 scheduled aircraft and 200 chartered aircraft. This number, according to Harsha Vardhan who heads Starair Consulting, is expected to inrease by 400 and 300 respectively.

Experts feel there was always a demand for skilled manpower in the industry but the speed at which the aviation industry is growing is the reason behind the mushrooming air hostess and pilot training institutes.

If one scores the brownie point because of its international tie-up, the other might shrink the one-year course into three months.

Sapna Gupta, director and founder, Air Hostess Academy (AHA), who began the academy with three students in 1997 now trains about 10,000 students every year. She says that the aviation industry has grown at break neck speed. “Today there is a constant demand for people right from cabin crew to ground staff to pilots. We began with one and now have 38 centres across 29 states. The growth rate is so fast that it has led to airhostess and pilot training institutes mushrooming so quickly.”