Western India Institue of Aeronautics

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.