This was announced at a press conference held on Thursday. Pune Airport director Captain Deepak Shastri said, “The students will be able to observe and participate in various functions right from airport entry point, baggage screening, check-in to passenger boarding. But at no point will they be directly accountable for the job as they will be under continuous supervision by the senior airport staff.”

The AAI will charge AHA Rs 50,000 for a batch of 30 students. AHA assistant general manager Bela Goyal said, “We will be the first institute of its kind to join hands with the Pune Airport authorities for this programme.” She added that the students would be trained and equipped with the skills needed to take on the work at the airport before the internship.

AHA, which has received the Education Training Ratna Award, currently has nearly 100 students from the tribal community and the economically weaker sections of society. Goyal explained that through this effort, students who had never travelled by air or been inside an airport would get a feel of what they were learning in class.