WIIA was established in the year 2004 by Dr Nagesh Bhandari with necessary approvals from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Government of India, in Hansol, Ahmedabad, near Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Since then, WIIA has evolved from a regional leader to a national leader in supplying AME professionals to the industry.

With a vision of being ‘Atma-nirbhar’ much before the Government of India had officially declared a national move. Dr Bhandari had envisioned the crucial importance of the aviation industry that it brings to today’s world and the value it adds to the national economy.

An airline spends about 12%-15% of its revenue on the maintenance, repair and overhaul of an aircraft, which is a major cost apart from the fuel. Indian carriers used to take MRO services from outside of India up to the year 2011 due to the lack of well-trained professionals and poor infrastructure.

Today the Indian carriers can take their MRO services in India, and the MRO sector is about USD 1.7 billion because of the vision and contribution of passionate personas like Dr Nagesh Bhandari, who had the leading support of Dr Ritu Bhandari.

The aviation industry in India pre-covid supported its GDP by about USD 35 billion and is expected to grow by 262% in the next 20 years. In the Indian aviation industry, with its new policies such as cuts in the GST from 18% to 5% in the MRO(Maintenace Repair and Overhaul) services, the government has increased the number of airports from 72 to 136 and has a target of 220, UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) i.e let the common citizen of the country fly; which will serve unserved and underserved areas and this will improve connectivity amongst all regions.

The Indian states have also managed to reduce VAT on aviation fuel from over 20% to about 5%, which is 40% of the cost of an airline; this implies that the spending on fuel has also decreased. Capitalizing on the various geopolitical advantages India has been able to create, it is set to be the third-largest aviation market by 2025, says IATA, and the need for licensed AMEs will immensely increase, and our pioneers had started the preparation to cater to this demand.

WIIA is led by Ms Radhika Bhandari, a young, pragmatic leader. She’s taken up the baton of WIIA, and we are gearing up to be a globally recognized organisation for our work. Ms Radhika emphasises women in aviation and has encouraged women to stand and work in male dominant industry, she is one of the only female leaders in an aviation organisation in India.

About

Introducing to you the Western India Institute of Aeronautics (WIIA), Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. WIIA is a wholesome institute that provides various aviation courses with realistic career opportunities across the globe. We provide the following programmes; Aircraft Maintenance Engineering (AME) in category B1.1 (Aeroplane Turbine) B2 (Avionics) and B1.2 (Piston Engine Aeroplanes) with an option along with B.Sc (Honours) in Aircraft Maintenance, B Tech. (Aeronautical/Aerospace) in collaboration with Indus University . We also provide vocational courses in Aviation, Hospitality & Travel Management, including Cabin Crew.

We at WIIA believe that an industry-ready student makes for a great professional. We can safely claim to have cracked the code of success for our previous students in the Aviation industry through our industry-ready infrastructure and ‘Practical Training’ facility.

At WIIA, we offer hands-on exposure to the students on aircraft such as Boeing 737-200, Learjet-24, Chetak Helicopter (SA 316B) and Zenith CH 2000, among others, and WIIA is the only aircraft maintenance engineering institute in India to have its own Boeing 737- 200 aircraft on campus to provide Aircraft Maintenance Engineering course approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

We are located in the land of opportunity, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and we have seen students coming from all corners of the country to fulfil their dream of an Aviation career. Gujarat is one of the foremost States, and several new hospitality and specialized projects like GIFT City & Sea Plane Services. As per the Forbes report, Ahmedabad is the fastest-growing city in the world.

We are equipped with our training labs with the latest maintenance technologies & methodologies necessary for practical field maintenance of different aircraft types. WIIA students are trained to get the opportunities in Aviation sectors such as aircraft/components/equipment maintenance in airlines/general aviation, MRO etc., Besides this, we take our students to Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Meerut, Patiala, and Mumbai airport for actual aircraft maintenance practical training.

In partnership with leading airlines and MROs such as Taj Air, AI Engineering Services Limited (formerly known as Air India), Shaurya Aeronautics Pvt. Ltd., Yatih Air Services Pvt. Ltd. and Go First. WIIA has left no stone unturned to make sure its students can witness their growth in the aviation industry, in this effort, we have also successfully been able to be a member of PAMA a USA-based association for AMEs. Our students have been able to work for over 50 domestic and international companies. Today we have over 600 plus alumni and of which 75 plus are female AMEs under the WIIA umbrella.