China Southern Airlines has launched its first domestic pilot training base at Nanyang Airport in central Henan Province with an investment of 510 million yuan (US$72.78 million).

The move is part of the carrier's efforts on building an improved pilot training system to serve China's booming aviation market and boost its international network.

The carrier has sent a Boeing 737-300 aircraft to serve the base and two more large planes will be put into use later.

China Southern, the country's largest carrier by fleet size, has also launched projects to widen its pilot pool, including setting up a pilot school in Australia in 1993 and recruiting pilots willing to pay for their own training last year.

A strong pilot team can help the carrier expand its international network as it expects the overseas routes can generate more profits.

"Now 19 percent of our income comes from international routes, and we aim to raise the figure to 25 percent or 30 percent in five years," the carrier's Chairman Liu Shaoyong said in an earlier report.

The carrier plans to launch about eight overseas routes this year. China now has 12,000 civilian pilots, but official estimates show that the total number of aircraft will reach 1,250 by 2010, requiring 6,500 more pilots.

However, the country is able to train just 600 to 800 pilots a year.

Most Chinese pilots are trained in the Sichuan Civil Aviation Flight University of China, run by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

(Shanghai Daily May 6, 2008)