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Airplane CPL, from first lesson to commercial licence

Available

CPL training at an independent partner flight school, with a planned route towards the hours needed for ATPL eligibility. An Instructor Rating is available on request. Self-funded: you pay for your own training, and type rating is not part of this programme.

  • LicenceCPL with multi-engine and Instrument Rating.
  • WhereAustralia, the USA, South Africa, Germany, the Philippines.
  • RouteCPL, hour building, ATPL eligibility. Instructor Rating on request.
  • FundingSelf-funded; loan application help.
  • ConversionYour home licence planned from day one.
  • ParentsWelcome on every counselling call.

What you get

Built for a career, not just a licence

Light training aircraft cockpit in flight

  • A commercial licence

    CPL with multi-engine and Instrument Rating, issued by the school's regulator.

  • Instructor Rating on request

    Available on request: the qualification that lets you teach while you build hours.

  • Hours, tracked

    Hour building logged against the ATPL experience your regulator requires.

  • Conversion planned

    Your home licence mapped while you are still training abroad.

  • Costs in writing

    A written cost breakdown before you commit to a school.

  • One advisor

    The same Pilots Assist advisor from enquiry to licence.

Accelerated commercial pilot training: an ab initio pilot training programme

Ab initio means from the beginning: the programme takes you from no flying experience to a commercial licence. It is accelerated because we plan your medical, DGCA papers, visa and flying as one sequence, so you don't lose time between stages. Training time still depends on weather, aircraft availability and your own progress, and no airline job is guaranteed.

Who it's for

Is this programme for you?

Your advisor checks your profile against the school and regulator before you apply.

  • You have finished secondary school with physics, mathematics and English
  • You can hold, or are ready to take, a Class 1 medical
  • You want an airline career and are ready to self-fund your training
  • You already have some hours and want them assessed: we review your logbook individually
Pre-flight check beside a training aircraft

Step by step

Five phases, one continuous route

  1. 1
    CPL ground schoolThe theory papers your licence requires, plus radio-telephony. For students from India: the five DGCA CPL theory papers (plus Performance where it applies) and RTR(A).
  2. 2
    Flight trainingSingle-engine, multi-engine and Instrument Rating at a partner school.
  3. 3
    Instructor Rating (on request)Available on request: Flight Instructor certification, the qualification that lets you teach.
  4. 4
    Hour buildingHours tracked against the ATPL experience your regulator requires.
  5. 5
    ATPL eligibilityA competitive, hour-qualified profile ready for airline applications. Hiring is the airline's decision.
Hands plotting a route on an aeronautical chart with dividers
  • 5destinations compared side by side
  • 5phases planned as one route
  • 4steps in a short, honest selection
  • 1advisor from enquiry to licence

Where you can train

Seven destinations, one plan

Each destination page shows its schools, costs and visa route. Ranges are indicative; the school confirms its fees in writing.

Frankfurt skyline above the River Main

EASA licence

Germany

An EASA licence, used across EU member states.

Planning budget, fees in Indian rupees₹70 lakh+

CPL training in Germany
Brisbane skyline across the river at night

CASA licence

Australia

Open airspace and a structured CASA CPL syllabus.

Planning budget, fees in Indian rupees₹70 lakh+

CPL training in Australia
Johannesburg city skyline at sunrise

SACAA licence

South Africa

Year-round VFR weather and a 14–18 month CPL route.

Planning budget, fees in Indian rupeesFrom ₹60 lakh

CPL training in South Africa
Texas Hill Country landscape

FAA licence

USA

Busy, varied US airspace and FAA training standards.

Planning budget, fees in Indian rupees₹70–75 lakh+

CPL training in USA
Makati skyline, Metro Manila

CAAP licence

Philippines

English-language training under CAAP, close to Asian hubs.

Planning budget, fees in Indian rupees₹60–65 lakh

CPL training in Philippines
Twin-engine training aircraft on a runway

DGCA Indonesia licence

Indonesia

A CASR Part 61 CPL, close to South-East Asian home markets.

CPL training in Indonesia
Red dunes around a white clay pan in the Namib Desert

NCAA licence

Namibia

Dry, sunny weather and an English-speaking country.

CPL training in Namibia

Fees and scope

What the programme covers

Costs begin at the ground-school and flight-training stages and are confirmed in writing before you commit to a school. See the full cost of your licence.

Related programmes: Airline-linked cadet programmes and Cadet support while you train.

Included

  • CPL ground school across every subject your licence requires
  • CPL flight training: single-engine, multi-engine and Instrument Rating
  • Hour building tracked against the ATPL threshold
  • Finance, visa and conversion support throughout every stage

Available on request

  • Instructor Rating certification
  • Help towards an instructing role at a partner school, where the school hires

Not included

  • Aircraft type rating: a separate service, usually relevant once you are ATPL-eligible or airline-hired
  • Living costs beyond those in your finance plan
  • A guaranteed airline seat
Airliner on final approach to a lit runway at dusk

Airplane CPL

From first solo to an airline application

Partner schools reviewed for safety, fleet and instructor availability before we place a cadet.

Funding

Pilots Sky Lend and loan guidance

Students from India can use Pilots Sky Lend, our education-loan application support for CPL training, type ratings and ground classes: collateral and non-collateral routes, a lender-ready file and disbursement planned against the school's fee stages.

How Pilots Sky Lend works
Light aircraft cockpit with a pilot at the controls

How to apply

A short, honest selection

  1. 1
    Eligibility and aptitude checkAcademic record, English proficiency and a short aptitude screen.
  2. 2
    Documentation reviewSchool marksheets, medical status and identity documents checked.
  3. 3
    Counselling interviewBudget, timeline and destination fit discussed one to one with an advisor.
  4. 4
    School selection and enrolmentConfirmed school, written cost breakdown and your Phase 1 start date.
Person carrying out a pre-flight check on a light aircraft

Fees by destination

Indicative CPL fees, side by side

Switch the destination to compare. Your advisor builds a costed plan from current partner quotes before you pay any deposit.

DestinationLicenceIndicative CPL course fee
GermanyEASA CPLSchool fees are set in eurosWithin our ₹70 lakh+ planning budget
AustraliaCASA CPLSchool fees are set in Australian dollarsWithin our ₹70 lakh+ planning budget
South AfricaSACAA CPLSchool fees are set in South African randWithin our planning budget from ₹60 lakh
USAFAA CPLSchool fees are set in US dollarsWithin our ₹70–75 lakh+ planning budget
PhilippinesCAAP CPLSchool fees are set in Philippine pesosWithin our ₹60–65 lakh planning budget

Course fees are set in each school’s own currency; we show our approved planning budget for that country in Indian rupees. Living costs come on top, and the school confirms its own fees in writing before you pay.

Included and not included

What a CPL budget covers

In the course fee

  • Tuition: ground school and flight training to CPL
  • Aircraft and instructor time for the hours the course includes
  • Exams and skill tests where the school includes them

Budget separately

  • Living costs: accommodation, food and transport
  • Student visa and insurance
  • Licence conversion at home (varies by country)
  • Extra hours for weather, maintenance or re-tests
  • Type rating

Milestone payments

Turn quotations into one budget

  1. 1
    Collect itemised quotationsWritten inclusions, exclusions, rates and payment terms from each school.
  2. 2
    Normalise the assumptionsThe same hour, living and completion headings for every option.
  3. 3
    Add time contingencyTime, recency and additional flying for weather, maintenance and re-tests.
  4. 4
    Add career-stage costsThe steps that follow licence issue, including conversion at home.
  5. 5
    Match funding to milestonesFamily funds or loan tranches aligned to the training schedule.

Ask which hours and aircraft each quote assumes, how rates can change, and what happens to unused funds if training pauses or transfers.

Glass-cockpit avionics reviewed in a training aircraft

How Pilots Sky Lend works

From eligibility check to final payment

  1. 1
    Eligibility reviewIncome, co-applicant, collateral and academic profile reviewed against what lenders typically ask.
  2. 2
    Cost sheetA full landed cost: tuition, hours, living, visa, insurance and conversion.
  3. 3
    Lender comparisonOptions compared on rate, moratorium, margin money and processing time.
  4. 4
    DocumentationA clear application file with the school's admission letter, visa documents and fee schedule.
  5. 5
    Sanction and transfersWritten sanction terms reviewed with you, and international transfers planned.
  6. 6
    Staged paymentsPayments released against training milestones, tracked with you through the course.
Airliner at a terminal gate at night

Your options

How students fund training

  • Family funding

    Savings and family support, planned against the school fee schedule.

  • Education loans at home

    Loans from banks or other lenders; we help prepare the file.

  • Staged payments

    Matched to the school's fee stages, not one large transfer.

  • Currency and transfers

    Exchange-rate and transfer costs in the budget from day one.

  • Contingency

    A buffer for weather, maintenance and re-tests.

  • The whole path

    Conversion and post-licence steps, not just the CPL.

Before you borrow

What we tell every family before they borrow

  • Borrow for the whole path: funding only the CPL and forgetting conversion is a common planning error
  • Repayment terms matter as much as the rate
  • Build a delay buffer: weather, maintenance and re-tests are normal
  • Watch the transfer costs
  • Read any bond terms with us before you sign
Adviser holding a loan application folder beside a laptop

Step by step

Four steps to a lender-ready file

  1. 1
    Present one coherent training routeEducation, medical status, licence, provider, destination, stages and career goal, with a full cost sheet.
  2. 2
    Prepare the document groupsStudent records, plus co-applicant income, tax, bank and credit information. Exact documents vary by lender.
  3. 3
    Compare the full written termsMargin, security, moratorium, repayment, tenure, processing, insurance and foreign-remittance conditions.
  4. 4
    Disburse against training milestonesInvoices mapped to admission, ground, flying and licence stages.
Airport departure hall with a glass wall

Documents

Keep the file consistent

  • Names and figures consistent across every form
  • Current school and course evidence
  • Family contribution clearly explained
  • Sanction letters, invoices, transfer records and school statements kept together

Before you pay a school

  • A preliminary discussion is not a sanction: avoid non-refundable school commitments until the written finance position is clear
Propeller aircraft in a hangar

Before you send

What to have ready

  • The course and training route you are considering
  • The funding you need, and what the family can contribute
  • The co-applicant profile: who will apply with you
  • Your education records and identity documents
Young man studying with books and a laptop under a desk lamp

What happens next

From your details to a practical next step

  1. 1
    Share your detailsCourse, funding requirement and co-applicant details.
  2. 2
    An advisor reviews your caseAgainst what lenders typically ask for.
  3. 3
    Get the next practical stepA clear route to a lender-ready file.
  4. 4
    The lender decidesEligibility, amount and timing are the lender's decision. Subject to lender approval.
Airport departure hall with a glass wall

Safety

What we check before we place a cadet

Person carrying out a pre-flight check on a light aircraft

  • Regulator

    Each partner school operates under its national regulator.

  • Safety and fleet

    Each school's safety and fleet reviewed before we place anyone.

  • Instructors

    Instructor availability checked against the intake.

  • Accommodation

    Help with accommodation questions on arrival and after.

  • Escalation

    An advisor who knows your file and steps in whenever you need support.

  • Cadet desk

    Medical emergencies, visa and money-transfer issues.

Money milestones

Pay against visible milestones

  1. 1
    Written cost planTuition, exams, living, visa, insurance and conversion in one budget, before any deposit.
  2. 2
    Itemised quotationsInclusions, exclusions, rates and payment terms from each school, in writing.
  3. 3
    Staged paymentsAn invoice schedule matched to training stages, not one large transfer.
  4. 4
    Account statementsAsk the school for statements and a refund policy; we help you read them.
  5. 5
    Flexibility bufferContingency for weather, maintenance and re-tests, which are normal in flight training.
Training aircraft lined up on the apron

Join the call

Bring your questions to the call

  • An honest timeline, not optimistic guesses
  • A costed pathway from day one to the airline application
  • Real financing options that match your budget
  • Answers to every question parents ask
Book a family call
A speaker taking questions from a raised hand at a counselling session

Eligibility checker

Your likely next steps

We never tell you that you are "eligible" or "approved": regulators and schools decide. This shows what to do next.

17 and above

What happens next

From answers to a plan

  1. 1
    Answer a few questionsAge, education, nationality, residence and your training goal.
  2. 2
    See your likely next stepsMedical, English, education and regulator steps for a licence earned abroad.
  3. 3
    Send your results to an advisorShare your answers so the advisor can check the detail with you.
  4. 4
    Get a planAn advisor replies with a plan for your next steps.
Two pilots wearing headsets in a light aircraft cockpit, seen from behind

Licence conversion

Bringing your licence home

You earn your CPL abroad. To fly commercially at home, you then convert it with DGCA.

What DGCA asks for · checked against official sources

Foreign ICAO CPL converted under DGCA CAR Section 7 Series G Part I: Indian Class 1 medical, RTR(A), DGCA papers (Air Regulations and Composite: Air Navigation + Meteorology), licence/logbook verification with the issuing authority, then a skill test in India.

Official source: dgca.gov.in

  1. Plan before you start

    We check the current DGCA requirements with you and plan your training records for conversion.

  2. Log every hour

    Your logbook is kept to the standard your conversion needs.

  3. Apply through DGCA

    We guide you through the process, and DGCA decides the outcome.

See the full conversion route

Student visa

Student visas, destination by destination

From India to the USA

M-1 student visa, with Form I-20 and SEVIS

  1. Accepted by an SEVP-certified flight school that issues an M-1 Form I-20.

  2. Pay SEVIS I-901 fee.

  3. Complete DS-160 and attend the US embassy/consulate interview.

Full visa checklist shared by your advisor

Get my visa checklist

Official source: travel.state.gov

How we help

  • File preparationYour visa file put together with you, in the order the authority asks for.
  • Documents checklistA checklist for your route, from school documents to proof of funds.
  • Appointment trackingWe keep track of your appointment and the next step with you.
  • Interview preparationPractice for the visa interview where your route has one.

General guidance only. Visas are decided by the authorities, so we make no visa promises and quote no processing times as guarantees.

Questions

Questions about the Airplane CPL

What is the programme, exactly?

A structured pathway from CPL to hour building and ATPL eligibility, with an Instructor Rating available on request, delivered through partner schools we have checked, not aircraft we operate ourselves.

Is there a fee to talk to you?

No. The first counselling call to check eligibility and map your route costs nothing, and there is no deposit to talk to us.

What documents are required to apply?

A recent CV, your school-leaving marksheets with physics, mathematics and English, your medical status and a government ID such as a passport.

I already have some flying hours. Are they credited?

It depends on where and when you flew them. We assess your logbook individually rather than assuming full or zero credit.

Am I guaranteed a job at an airline at the end?

No, and we will not tell you otherwise. This is a route to becoming a competitive, hour-qualified candidate.

Is a type rating included?

No. Type ratings are aircraft-specific and usually make most sense once an airline has committed to you.

Pilot wearing a headset in a light aircraft cockpit
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Updated 8 October 2026 · By Pilots Assist Team

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