BAA Training, a subsidiary of Lithuania-based aviation services company Avia Solutions Group, will launch a pilot training center in Central China's Henan province, which is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2019.

BAA Training signed an agreement with Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Co in mid-November to create a Henan-based joint venture pilot training company to meet the growing need for aviation professionals in China.

With an investment of US$60 million, the center will equip six full flight simulators. By 2022, it is expected to train 1,000 pilots per year, mostly for A320 and B737 MAX aircraft.

The investment also will be used to cover costs of land, facility, equipment and operational costs. The training facilities will be placed within the Zhengzhou airport economic zone.

The center will mainly provide training services for existing pilots and for smaller airlines that do not have simulators, the company said.

Currently, only a few major Chinese airlines have well-established pilot training systems. Many medium-sized and smaller airlines don't have their own pilot training mechanisms and lack training facilities, such as flight simulators.

In the past two years, Avia has invested US$835 million in China. Earlier it set up a financial leasing joint venture based in Henan province.