I passed Class XII (PCM) this year. I want to do a commercial pilot license (CPL) training course from abroad. Could you tell me about some good but not too expensive institutes? I have heard that there are some reasonably priced courses in Southeast Asia.

Preetam Chakraborty
Guwahati

Nowadays, many Indian students are doing their commercial pilot training course from abroad because the fees are much higher in India and there are inadequate seats compared to the huge demand that exists. Trainee pilots have to log more man hours in India to pass the course, which is another reason aspiring pilots are heading abroad where the training period is shorter. Also, most flying institutes in India do not have advanced infrastructure like flying simulator, which is an integral part of training in many foreign flying institutes.

While an academy in India can charge around Rs 20 lakh to train students for a commercial pilot license, a flying institute in the US will charge only three-fourth of the amount for the same course. Again, the training period in US flying academies usually hovers around six months, while it can take up to two and a half years in India for a pilot to sit for his or her CPL.

In Australia, flying training schools offer courses that are comparable to the US ones, as far as cost is concerned. Courses offered by flying training schools in Southeast Asia are even cheaper though a little more time consuming than the US ones. Flying academies in Malaysia offer courses that take about a year to prepare students for their CPL and should cost only half, or a little more than half, the amount charged in India. Philippines, which is one of the cheapest countries in the world for getting a pilot’s license, also charges around half the amount charged in India.

Since your prime concern seems to be to attend an academy that is comparatively inexpensive, you can try to get in touch with the training schools mentioned below for a detailed cost structure and eligibility criteria. In Philippines you can try contacting the Sun Aviation Inc., the Philippine Pilot Training Center, the Flight Dynamics School of Aeronautics, the Flight and Simulator Training Inc. and the Cyclone Flying School. In Malaysia, you can get in touch with the Malaysian Flying Academy, which offers CPL with instrument rating course.

However, I would advise you to be careful to check out the quality of the courses as well as the infrastructure available before joining any of these academies.

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