The UAE’s aviation sector is struggling with a pilot shortage as a result of the travel and tourism boom of the last three years, which has forced some airlines to make quality compromises in order to fill the void.
Last year, Boeing predicted that over the next 20 years, the world will need some 650,000 additional pilots, with 58,000 of those needed in the Middle East alone. In sharp contrast to the 4,500 pilots who joined the sector each year over the previous 20 years, this equates to an annual demand of 32,500 pilots.
“There is nearly seven times as much demand as there is supply. The CEO of the pilot training institution Pier Seven, located in Sharjah, Capt. Abhishek Nadkarni, stated that the aviation training sector is not keeping up with the increasing demand.
