EADS, the European maker of the Airbus family of commercial jets, plans to open an air academy in the Gulf Arab state, to train both local and foreign pilots, project officials said on Oct. 19.

"EADS has proposed the academy and we have accepted," Mohammed Sakr al-Amry, Undersecretary of Civil Aviation, told Reuters.

An EADS project official said the academy would be built in the industrial city of Sohar, which is slated to see a new airport completed in 2012.

"The academy will be fully funded by EADS and is proposed to be built at the new airport in Sohar," said Xavier Azan, managing director of Dubai-based Offset Development Company.