Aviation

Australian PM advocates JV in aviation sector

Preeti Kannan - Chennai

The Australian trade delegation led by the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, has evinced keen interest in joint ventures in the aviation sector between India and Australia, during the business forum held in Chennai last month.

Discussions have been initiated for setting up of a world-class aviation institution in Madurai in association with an Indian company, where Australia would provide the technical and non-technical training for staff in the aviation industry.

Thiagarajan, MD, Paramount Airways, met with Australian Prime Minister and Peter Gregg, CFO, Qantas Airways and discussed the possibility of interline agreements between the two countries. Speaking to ETW, Thiagarajan said, "We are exploring opportunities of developing a relationship between India and Australia in various areas including infrastructure development. We have held talks with Qantas Airways for exploring tie-ups between their airlines and Paramount." He added that with India facing a constant shortage of pilots, there is a need for world-class training centres and Australia's technical expertise could help India achieve this.