Eight steps from your first eligibility check to an airline type rating. Each step includes the SkyStudy tool that helps with it, approximate durations and cost ranges, and where to go for the official rules.
All durations and costs are indicative ranges, not quotes or guarantees. Always confirm current details with an approved training organisation and your aviation authority.
17 / 18 / 21
PPL from 17, CPL from 18, full ATPL from 21
18 to 24 months
Integrated; modular two to three years or more
EUR 50,000 to 80,000
Modular; integrated roughly EUR 80,000 to well over EUR 100,000
13
Theory exam papers
Every figure here is a planning range, not a quote. Ages, costs and hour requirements vary by country, school and year. SkyStudy is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with EASA or any civil aviation authority.
Most professional pilots share the same early training, then specialise. It is worth knowing the main directions before you commit, because they shape the route and the budget. This guide follows the airline path.
Flying jets or turboprops for a scheduled or charter airline as part of a two-pilot crew. This is the route most people mean by becoming a pilot, and it is the one this guide follows in detail.
Flying private and business jets for companies or charter operators. Often reached with the same licences as the airline path, sometimes with a more varied early career.
Teaching new students with a flight instructor rating. A common and respected way to build the hours and experience that lead to an airline job.
Aerial survey, banner towing, parachute dropping, agricultural work, sightseeing and similar roles. These build real flight time and are a genuine career in their own right.
You can usually start training before you are old enough to hold the licence. As a rough guide, you can fly solo from around 16, hold a PPL from 17, hold a CPL from 18, and hold a full ATPL from 21. Confirm current minimum ages with your authority.
A professional pilot needs an EASA Class 1 medical certificate. Get the initial assessment early, before you commit large sums, so you know there is nothing that would stop you flying commercially.
Aviation runs on English. You need an ICAO language proficiency check, commonly at Level 4 or above, and you study and sit the theory exams in English.
No university degree is required to become an airline pilot. A solid grounding in maths, physics and English makes the theory far easier, and the right to live and work where you train and fly matters too.
Use the marker on each step to track where you are. It saves locally in your browser, with no account needed.
Confirm you meet the age and English requirements, then book your EASA Class 1 medical assessment before committing serious money to training. This is the cheapest gate-check you can do and it protects your investment.
Appointment in days to weeks; results within a few weeks
A few hundred EUR for the initial assessment
Airline and cadet selections typically include cognitive aptitude tests. Practise multitasking, spatial reasoning, numerical, verbal and memory tasks so you know where you stand before your first assessment.
Start at any time; practice over weeks or months
Free on SkyStudy
The three main routes are integrated (one full-time programme, fastest in calendar time), modular (build-your-own, can work alongside it) and MPL (multi-crew pilot licence, tied to one airline). Each involves genuine tradeoffs in cost, speed and flexibility.
Research phase, a few weeks
See Step 4 for school costs
Pick an EASA-approved training organisation (ATO) that fits your route, budget and location. Compare current price quotes, fleet age and instructor experience before signing anything. Always get written quotes.
Research takes weeks; enrolment timelines vary by school
Integrated roughly EUR 80,000 to 130,000; modular roughly EUR 50,000 to 80,000
Study and sit the 13 EASA ATPL theoretical knowledge exams. The theory phase covers Air Law, Meteorology, Navigation, Performance, Human Factors and more. Keeping early subjects alive while studying later ones is the real challenge; spaced repetition is how you do it.
Roughly 12 to 18 months, commonly studied alongside flying
EUR 2,000 to 7,000 for a theory course, plus exam fees
Earn your PPL, build hours (on the modular route), then earn the CPL, instrument rating and multi-engine rating. MCC and UPRT complete the set. Together these add up to the frozen ATPL: the co-pilot-ready stage.
18 to 24 months integrated; 2 to 3 years or more modular
The majority of your total training spend
Apply for first-officer roles. Airline assessments typically include a simulator check, technical questions, group exercises and a competency interview. Knowing what to expect before you walk in makes a real difference.
Ongoing after the frozen ATPL; varies with hiring cycles
Variable; travel and assessment fees; type ratings are sometimes required
A type rating qualifies you on a specific airliner. Line training under supervision follows, and your ATPL unfreezes once you reach the required flight experience. From there, experience leads to upgrades and command.
Type rating roughly 6 to 8 weeks; line training roughly 3 to 6 months
EUR 20,000 to 35,000 if self-funded; sometimes bonded by the airline
There is no single correct route, only the one that fits your money, your time and your appetite for risk. Here are the honest tradeoffs for each main option.
One full-time course, zero to frozen ATPL.
Building blocks at your own pace.
Multi-Crew Pilot Licence, tied to one airline.
Becoming an airline pilot is a stack of licences and ratings earned in sequence. Here is what each one is and why it matters.
The PPL hub breaks down all nine PPL theory subjects, and the free PPL practice quiz is a quick way to see where that theory stands before you commit to a school.
Private Pilot Licence
Your first licence. You learn to fly a single-engine light aircraft under visual flight rules and may carry passengers, but not for payment. It is the base every later qualification is built on.
Night flying privileges
Lets you fly at night. Often added soon after the PPL because most of the professional path assumes you can operate after dark.
Building flight experience
On the modular route you build flying hours after the PPL to reach the experience needed for the Commercial Pilot Licence. It is also where you grow as a confident, current pilot.
Theoretical knowledge
The desk-based knowledge phase covering the full theory syllabus, examined as a set of papers. Passing it is a requirement on the road to the commercial licence and the frozen ATPL.
Commercial Pilot Licence
Lets you be paid to fly. It needs a minimum amount of total flight experience and a skill test. On the modular route this commonly sits around the 200-hour mark.
Instrument Rating
Lets you fly by reference to instruments, in cloud and poor visibility, on instrument flight rules. Essential for airline operations and usually combined with the multi-engine rating.
Multi-Engine rating
Qualifies you to fly aircraft with more than one engine, including handling an engine failure. A core step toward airliners, which are all multi-engine.
Upset Prevention and Recovery Training
Advanced training in recognising and recovering from unusual attitudes and loss of control. A required part of modern professional training.
Multi-Crew Cooperation
Teaches you to operate as part of a two-pilot flight crew, sharing tasks and communicating in a jet flight simulator. The APS (Airline Pilot Standard) version is more airline-oriented.
Aircraft type rating
Qualifies you on one specific airliner, such as an A320 or 737. It is a major cost, often completed after a job offer, paid by you, or covered by the airline under a bond.
Frozen Airline Transport Pilot Licence
Not a separate licence, but the point where you hold a CPL, a multi-engine instrument rating and full ATPL theory passes. You can fly as a co-pilot while you build experience.
Airline Transport Pilot Licence
The highest pilot licence. Your frozen ATPL unfreezes once you meet the required experience, commonly around 1,500 total flight hours with the right mix of multi-crew and command time. It lets you serve as captain.
Professional flying requires an EASA Class 1 medical certificate, issued by an approved aeromedical centre or examiner. The initial assessment is the thorough one: it checks your eyesight, hearing, heart, lungs and general health. Later renewals are shorter. Get the initial Class 1 early, because it is the cheapest way to confirm you can train commercially before you commit serious money, and it tells you about any condition you would need to manage.
Worried a specific issue rules you out? Glasses, colour vision, your age, ADHD and a mental-health history stop far fewer people than most assume. Our can I become a pilot? guide answers each worry against the actual EASA rules.
EASA ATPL theoretical knowledge is examined as a set of papers: 13 under the current EASA ECQB syllabus. They span Air Law, Aircraft General Knowledge, Flight Performance and Planning, Human Performance, Meteorology, Navigation, Operational Procedures, Principles of Flight and Communications. The real challenge is the breadth: keeping early subjects fresh while you study later ones, which is exactly where steady, spaced practice pays off.
These are indicative planning ranges, not quotes. The real numbers depend on your country, the school, aircraft rates, currency and how steadily you progress. Read them as a guide to the shape of the spend, then get current figures directly from approved training organisations.
| Stage | Indicative range |
|---|---|
| Class 1 medical (initial) | A few hundred euros |
| Private Pilot Licence (PPL) | EUR 10,000 to 15,000 |
| Hour building | EUR 8,000 to 15,000 |
| ATPL theory course | EUR 2,000 to 7,000 |
| Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) | EUR 15,000 to 25,000 |
| Multi-engine instrument rating (ME IR) | EUR 15,000 to 30,000 |
| MCC / APS MCC | EUR 3,000 to 6,000 |
| Type rating (if self-funded) | EUR 20,000 to 35,000 |
A modular path commonly lands somewhere around EUR 50,000 to 80,000, while an integrated course often runs from roughly EUR 80,000 to well over EUR 100,000. A self-funded type rating can add more on top.
Budget for exam fees, the language test, study materials, headsets and equipment, travel and accommodation near the school, and a contingency for any retraining or retests. They add up.
Pilot training is a major investment, and there is no single right way to fund it. Most students combine a few of these.
Many modular students pay stage by stage from savings and income. It is slower but keeps you free of debt and lets you pause if life or the job market changes.
Some students use personal, career or specialist training loans. Borrowing a six-figure sum for a job market that rises and falls is a serious commitment, so model the repayments carefully.
Many training organisations let you pay per module or per stage rather than all at once. This is one of the practical advantages of the modular route.
Some airlines run cadet programmes or cover a type rating under a bond you repay from salary. Fully sponsored, no-cost schemes are rare, so read the terms closely before signing.
Often around 18 to 24 months full time, because you study and fly continuously with one cohort under one syllabus.
Commonly two to three years or more, depending on how much you can fly and study at once while you work or live around it.
Either way, the calendar stretches for reasons outside your control: weather, aircraft availability, exam scheduling, medical processing and your own pace. Plan with margin rather than a best case.
Holding a frozen ATPL is the start of your career, not the finish line. Here is what the move from graduate to working pilot usually looks like.
As a frozen ATPL holder you apply for first officer roles. Expect assessments that can include a simulator check, technical questions, group exercises and an interview.
Some new pilots build experience by instructing (with a flight instructor rating), towing or flying general aviation work while they wait for an airline opening.
A first airline job usually means a type rating on their aircraft followed by line training, where you fly real routes under supervision before going on the line normally.
Once you meet the required experience your ATPL unfreezes, which opens the path to command. Hiring is cyclical, so stay financially prepared and keep your licences and medical current.
Airline and cadet selection often includes aptitude screening. You can work through a free pilot aptitude test on SkyStudy to practise numerical, verbal, spatial, memory and multitasking tasks before your assessment.
Do your research and, if you can, talk to working pilots and recent graduates.
Book a trial or introductory flight to confirm you enjoy actually flying.
Get your EASA Class 1 medical early, before committing serious money.
Decide between integrated and modular, then shortlist approved training organisations and ask for current quotes.
Build a realistic budget with a contingency for retraining, retests and living costs.
Start the PPL or ATPL theory, and keep your medical and English proficiency current as you go.
Approved Training Organisation, a school approved to deliver professional pilot training.
European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which sets the licensing rules this guide follows.
Civil Aviation Authority, a national regulator (for example the UK CAA) that issues licences.
Private, Commercial and Airline Transport Pilot Licences, in rising order of privileges.
Frozen ATPL, the stage where you hold a CPL, ME IR and ATPL theory passes.
Instrument Rating, allowing flight by reference to instruments in cloud.
Multi-Engine rating, for aircraft with more than one engine.
Multi-Crew Cooperation, and its Airline Pilot Standard version, for two-pilot operations.
Upset Prevention and Recovery Training.
Multi-Crew Pilot Licence, an airline-focused route built around crew operations.
Light Aircraft Pilot Licence, a lighter leisure licence below the PPL.
Aeromedical Examiner and Aeromedical Centre, who issue your Class 1 medical.
ATPL theory is the part of the journey you study at a desk, and it is where good revision makes the biggest difference. SkyStudy is an independent study aid for that phase: independently authored practice questions written around the published EASA ATPL learning objectives, spaced repetition to keep earlier subjects alive, timed mock exams and analytics that show where to focus. It does not replace your training organisation or official materials, and results are not guaranteed. It helps you prepare for the exams more efficiently.
The theory phase is where good revision makes the biggest difference. Each subject below has its own study guide explaining what the paper tests, what to memorise and the traps to avoid.
Each stage of the roadmap above has its own detailed guide or tool. Open the one you need next.
The medical gate to a professional flying career.
Free practice for the cognitive tasks in airline selection.
The first licence and the first solo, explained.
The licence that lets you be paid to fly.
Flying under IFR and in cloud, required for airlines.
A realistic look at what airline pilots earn.
Build an ATS-safe CV ready for airline applications, no sign-up.
Compose the letter that goes with the CV, in your own words.
Plain-English meanings for the terms above.
Rules, ages, fees and requirements change. Before you make a decision, confirm the current details with an approved training organisation and your aviation authority. You can find a starting list on our official sources page.
The SkyStudy ATPL question bank turns the ATPL syllabus into exam-style question practice, spaced repetition and timed mock exams, all aligned to the published EASA ATPL learning objectives. Free to start, no card needed.
This page is general educational information for student pilots and may be out of date.
Aviation rules, training requirements, costs, medical standards, and exam details change over time and vary by country, authority, and training organisation, so details here may no longer be current or may differ in your case.
Always confirm the current details with your approved training organisation (ATO) and national aviation authority before relying on them.
SkyStudy is an independent study aid, is not affiliated with EASA or any aviation authority, and does not guarantee any exam or licence outcome.
Last reviewed July 2026
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