The national flag carrier has already sourced 20 pilots from Belgrade-based Jat Airways Training Centre, and 18 more will join shortly.

Air India, which has a fleet of 48 aircraft, will require 100 pilots every year for the next seven years. According to S Venkat, executive director (finance), the airline will have a fleet size of 59 by the year-end.

"We have the largest fleet of 48 aircraft now, since inception. We have firmed up plans to enhance the services of our low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, to 115 flights a week during summer against current 57 flights a week," Venkat said.

To meet the growing pilots requirements, Air India has shortlisted four international flight training institutes. Besides Jat Airways, the airline has shortlisted a US-based and a New Zealand-based training institutes to train fresh engineering graduates in twin-engine jets. "Air India is examining a possible tie-up with one of these schools to train Air India's fresh pilots," the sources added.

Recently, the PSU carrier had decided to recruit fresh graduates from the science and engineering disciplines in the wake of a severe shortage of pilots. The airline will sign a bond with these graduates, who will be trained at Air India's cost.

"Over 2,000 graduates appeared for the examination conducted by Air India for pilot-training," Air India executives said. Air India requires over 3,500 pilots in the next three years with domestic airlines acquiring more than 300 aircraft.

Industry analysts said Air India would have to scout for multiple avenues for sourcing pilots as the capacity of the state-run Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi has reached saturation.

"Initial pilot training for a fresh graduate will cost $35,000 to $40,000 per year in training institutes in the US. A tie-up with accredited training schools will ensure a training slot for Air India," they added.

Meanwhile, Air India is planning to start non-stop flights to the US and Air India Express will fly to Dubai and South-East Asia from Tiruchirapalli shortly.