A view of the hangar at Toubro Aviation within the Sonari aerodrome. A Telegraph picture

Jamshedpur, April 5: If authorities at the city’s lone flying club, Toubro Aviation, are to be believed, leading names like Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines would soon drop in to recruit a fresh batch of pilots.

“At least three major groups have shown a keen interest in coming to Jamshedpur to pick up pilots,” said Deepak Jha, manager of operations, Toubro Aviation Private Limited.

Started about a year and a half ago, the flying club provides a 18-month course for a commercial pilot licence.

While Jet and Kingfisher have already shown interest, Paramount Airways, which operates mainly in Northern India, is waiting in the wings. The institute is also trying to get in touch with Air Deccan which is scheduled to begin operations here soon.

With such plum offers for its very first batch of students, the institute has decided to begin a full-fledged placement wing from the coming academic year “to streamline operations. The placement cell would have both faculty and student members,” said Jha.

Candidates wanting to pursue a course in this institute have to first appear for a pilot licence examination conducted by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The authorities have also ordered for a new aircraft and a flight simulator to be used from June for the training programme.

Cessna 172, the new aircraft, is a small light four-seater considered ideal for training purposes.