All Questions About PPL Training Costs

First of all, we try to communicate the actual costs of our training. It is a complex product with many variables, but we try to keep our pricing simple. We do not want you to be faced with surprises or to feel uncomfortable about the investment during your training.

It is therefore possible that you will see a (much) lower price for a PPL training at other flight schools. That sounds attractive, but it is important to know that not all flight schools are equally transparent about their prices.

At some flight schools, all kinds of costs are added during the training (think of fuel, landing fees, sometimes even instruction), which means that you end up paying a completely different amount than you initially expected.

You can find out what is and is not included in this price in the following questions.

Practical (€ 22,133)

• 45 hours with instructor including pre- and debriefing
• 10 hours solo including pre- and debriefing
• 6 extra hours of theory for onboarding, intro SEP flying and navigation.
• 155 landings
• 31 hours electric, 14 hours single engine piston (of course the CO2 is compensated)
• Including electricity and fuel
  

Theory (€ 1,283)

• Access to an extensive e-learning environment so that you can master the nine theory subjects in your own way.
• Including 24 hours of classroom guidance.
• Practical Radio/Telephony course
• Exam training

There are a number of costs that are variable or that we cannot include in the package.

• Extra lessons and extra landings. The 45 hours in the PPL practical training is the legally determined minimum number of hours. Students who take lessons often and have a good feeling for it, often manage fine in the 45 hours. For students who need a little more time, the total is exceeded by an average of 15% to 20%.
  Because this is different for every student, we cannot include it in the package. You can of course purchase extra lessons from us per lesson or per package of six lessons. It is also possible to take extra lessons on our simulator.
• Medical examination. A class 2 medical certificate is required before you fly solo. Expect to pay €375 in costs. Depending on your age and the clinic you choose, the frequency and costs of the examination may vary.
• The practical exam. This exam is administered by a qualified examiner. Expect to pay €500 to €600
• Costs for issuing the first certificate at KIWA* €726 (price level end of 2023)
• Language Proficiency Endorsement (LPE) language test
  We have chosen not to include this mandatory test in our package. This is because these costs are sold without VAT. If we were to include this in our package, you would pay 21% more. The costs of this test are €164 (price level end of 2023)
• The theory exams
  You must take a total of 9 exams. These costs are also sold without VAT and you therefore pay them yourself. We will help you register. The exams cost €522 (price level end of 2024)

You pay us per single lesson or per six lessons. It is good to know that one lesson is not the same as one flight hour.

Please note that you will fly approximately 0.85 hours in one lesson on average. So for 45 flight hours, you will need approximately 56 lessons.

The average lesson with us lasts two hours. You start with a briefing with your instructor. Then you inspect the plane, start it up and taxi to the runway. After an hour in the plane, there is another half hour reserved for debriefing.

You do not pay the package price mentioned in one go. It is a summary of your practical lessons and theory. You order the lessons and theory yourself at your own pace and are also free to stop at any time.

At E-Flight Academy we offer our flight lessons in packages of 6 lessons. The first 6 lessons are called the assessment. The costs for a 6-lesson package depend on the day of the week on which you take lessons and the season.

The price difference between weekdays and weekends is caused by different landing fees and weekend surcharges from our instructors.

In addition to your flying lessons, you will also purchase the theory package so that you can get started with this component.

Our theory package includes:

• Access to an extensive e-learning environment so that you can master the nine theory subjects in your own way. Including 24 hours of classroom supervision.
• Practical Radio/Telephony Course

Yes, each lesson includes at least one landing and on top of that there is a set of landings included in a training course so that you end up with 155 landings in total that are included in the package prices.

In principle, this number should be enough. Do you still need extra landings? Then this will be calculated afterwards according to these airport rates. We will charge these to you without a margin.

Yes! That is all part of the price of a lesson. You don't have to keep track of anything or settle up afterwards.

Yes! You don't have to worry about that here either.

Depending on how many extra lessons you need (average 15% to 20% above the minimum 45 hours), you purchase one or more lessons. See the previous question for the package prices.

Single lessons include one landing. Additional landings are invoiced separately after the lesson. We charge the same rates as the landing fees of the airport.

*Lessons on a combustion model aircraft are only needed for navigation flights. These come last in your training.

If you make more than 155 landings, we will invoice these on a post-calculation basis. We charge the same rates as the landing fees of the airport. During a regular lesson you usually make 1 or 2 landings. If you do circuit training (learning to land) you usually end up with 5 or 6 landings per lesson.

See the airport rates here

Landing at other airports
Each airport has different landing fees. We will by far incur the most costs at Teuge, but for your navigation flights you will of course also come to other airports. If you are comparing flight schools and landing fees are not included in the price, then also check carefully what those additional costs entail.

Flight time (also known as 'airtime') is the time that an aircraft actually spends in the air.

Block time (also known as 'gate-to-gate time') is the time that elapses from the moment an aircraft departs from the hangar until it returns to the hangar.

In lessons in an electric aircraft, the difference between block time and flight time is much smaller than in a fuel aircraft. This is because we do not have a long run-up and our checklist is much shorter.

If you encounter a flight school that charges by block time, keep in mind that the time you are actually in the air is not the same as the time you spend on your total lesson.

At E-Flight Academy, you don't have to worry about that. Because you simply pay per lesson. And in one lesson, your flight time averages 0.85 flight hour. So you get a lot of real flight time during your flying lesson!

Yes, that's possible! To be clear, this concerns extra hours in addition to the hours you already receive within the theory package.

We call this Theory Support. It also sometimes happens that a flight cannot be flown due to bad weather and the student is already there. In that case, last-minute Theory Support can be taken by the instructor in question.

Flying itself is cheaper. Our aircraft has a 22 kWh battery, and if you know the electricity price, you can calculate that a flight usually costs less than 10 euros in electricity. A conventional training aircraft will quickly cost three to five times more.

However, there are also a lot of costs that turn out to be higher. Fortunately, it is expected that these costs will decrease in the coming years. For example, think of the depreciation of the battery. It needs to be replaced after just a few hundred hours. Additionally, our aircraft are of course brand new. Most flight schools operate with older planes that have already depreciated significantly. Maintenance is also new for the technicians, which has led to investments in training, and you can see this reflected in the price.

So it will take some time before electric flying becomes truly cheaper. A good way to accelerate that is to fly as much as possible electrically!

You don't need to purchase anything you already have again. The best thing to do is to consult with us about which part of the theory you have already arranged yourself and what we may still need to start. Please contact us at 055 203 2230

75 to 100 hours using e-learning. In addition, one can receive 5 days of guidance from a trainer.

The more you fly, the sooner you can take your exam. It's entirely up to you. At least, 4 or 5 flights per day is a bit of a maximum. So you can (theoretically) complete the 45 hours for your PPL in a few weeks. But your fellow students might take a year or longer to finish. It's up to you! Some regularity will help you master it faster. Note that, in addition to the practical lessons, you will also need to pass your theory exams. You can do this before or during your training.

Paying in advance is much more pleasant for us, and also for you, than paying afterwards. First of all, all the less enjoyable administrative work is done before you go flying. We don't have to talk about money on your flying day. The instructor doesn't walk around with a card machine and no, there is also no cash register and no change. It's all about flying! You can fully enjoy it. Even afterwards, you don't have to worry about the invoices to be paid. And for us, after a nice day of teaching, we don't have to make payment arrangements or send annoying reminders. And honestly, it is of course nice for us to keep the accounts receivable low. After all, we also have to pay for the airplanes, the insurance, and the rent for the hangar in advance.

If you still want to cancel your lesson and you notify us well in advance, no problem! We will simply refund your money. This also applies if a lesson needs to be rescheduled due to bad weather conditions and you decide not to come anymore. See our terms and conditions

Or: Can I claim the costs as study expenses?

With a Private Pilot Licence (PPL) certificate, you are not allowed to perform commercial activities. Therefore, in most cases, you cannot list the training as business expenses. The tax authority's website states: “The training or study is aimed at your profession or future profession.” If you continue after your Private Pilot License for a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) or an Instructor Rating, you can try it, however our advice: research it thoroughly, consult with an accountant, tax advisor, or ask the tax authority directly.