Long-haul budget carrier Scoot which will start flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner later this year has inked a five-year pilot training deal with the American plane maker.

Under the agreement announced on Friday, Boeing will train the pilots at its Singapore training campus. About 32 Scoot pilots are expected to undergo the training this year.

The airline's chief executive officer Campbell Wilson said: "This is an exciting time for Scoot, as we expand our services throughout the Asia Pacific region, and work with Boeing for world-class flight training."

Scoot, a Singapore Airlines subsidiary, will take delivery of 20 B-787s starting from later this year, as part of the SIA group's plans to expand its presence in the fast-growing low-cost market. The B787 will have up to 375 seats in two classes.

The budget carrier which started flying about two years ago now operates B-777s on medium and long-haul routes between Singapore and Sydney, Gold Coast, Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo, Tianjin, Shenyang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Seoul, Perth and Hong Kong.

Vice-president of Boeing Flight Services, Sherry Carbary said: "Aviation opportunities - for airlines and pilots - are expanding rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region, and we are pleased to offer a robust network of experienced instructors and training devices close to our customers across the region."

Boeing projects that over the next 20 years, there will be a need for 498,000 new commercial airline pilots and 556,000 new maintenance technicians to fly and maintain the new planes entering the world fleet.

In South-east Asia alone, 51,500 pilots and 64,700 technicians are needed to fill the gap.