A new pilot training program at the Aviation School of Mexico at the Cuernavaca, Morelos, airport will raise the state’s profile in national and international aviation, predicts Morelos Governor Cuauhtémoc Blanco.

Speaking at the new program’s inauguration on Thursday, Blanco said the Cuernavaca airport has become an important center for pilot training in Mexico and around the world.

“This is allowing Morelos to truly become a host to the world, as students from around the country and other countries will be able to study aviation here,” he said.

The French aircraft manufacturer Airbus is also a participant in the program.

Aviation School director Alfredo Velázquez Maciel said the airport has the best hangar for pilot training in the country.

He said the school will offer 30,000 flight instruction hours in 2019, of which 40% will take place in Morelos.

Airport manager Federico Misael Álvarez Dávila said the investment in Cuernavaca shows that the city’s airport could be an alternative to the over-saturated Benito Juárez Airport in Mexico City.

State officials said they will meet with the federal Communications and Transportation Secretariat to discuss the possibility of including Cuernavaca in a Mexico City airport system.

Source: Milenio (sp), La Unión de Morelos (sp)