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 strive to keep our pricing simple. We don’t want you to be surprised or feel uneasy about the investment during your training.

Therefore, you may see a (much) lower price for a PPL course at other flight schools. That sounds attractive, but it’s important to know that not all flight schools are equally transparent about their prices.

At some flight schools, various costs are added during the course (think fuel, landing fees, sometimes even instruction), so you ultimately pay a very different amount than you initially expected.

What is and isn’t included in this price can be found in the following questions.

Practical (€21,327)

• 45 flight hours
• 124 hours of instruction (onboarding, dual lessons, pre- and debriefings, additional hours for SEP intro and navigation)
• 10 hours solo including pre- and debriefing
• 155 landings
• 31 hours electric, 14 hours single engine piston (CO2 is offset, of course)
• Including electricity and fuel
  

Theory (€1,321)

• Access to a comprehensive e-learning environment so you can master the nine theory subjects at your own pace.
• Including 24 hours of classroom instruction.
• Practical Radio Telephony course
• Exam preparation

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

• Additional flight hours and extra landings. The 45 hours in the PPL practical training is the legally required minimum number of hours. Students who fly regularly and have a natural feel for it often manage fine within 45 hours. Students who need a bit more time typically exceed the total by 15% to 20%.
  Since this varies per student, we cannot include it in the package. You can of course book extra lessons with us individually or in packages of six. It is also possible to take extra lessons on our simulator.
• Medical examination. Before you fly solo, a Class 2 medical certificate is required. Expect costs of approximately €375. Depending on your age and the clinic you choose, the frequency and costs of the examination may vary.
• The practical exam. This exam is conducted by an authorized examiner. Expect costs of €500 to €600.
• Issuance of your first licence by IL&T €655 (price level early 2026)
• 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 included it in our package, you would pay 21% more. The cost of this test is €174 (price level early 2026).
• Theory exams
  You need to pass 9 exams in total. These costs are also sold without VAT, so you pay for them yourself. We help with registration. The exams cost €553.50 (price level early 2026).

You pay at checkout with us per single lesson or per six lessons. It’s good to know that one lesson is not the same as one flying hour.

Please note that in one lesson you make on average approx. 0.85 flying hours. So for 45 flying hours, you would need approx. 56 lessons.

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

The listed package price is not paid all at once. It is a breakdown of your flying lessons and theory. You order the lessons and theory yourself at your own pace and are free to stop at any time.

At E-Flight Academy we offer our flight lessons in packages of 6 lessons. The first 6 lessons we call the assessment. The cost for a 6-lesson package depends on the day of the week you take lessons and the season.

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

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

Our theory package includes:

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

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

In principle this number should be sufficient. Do you still need extra landings? Then these are billed afterwards according to these airport rates. We pass these on to you without any markup.

Yes! That's all included in the price of a lesson. You don't need to keep track of it or settle it afterwards.

Yes! You don't need to look after it here either.

Depending on how many extra lessons you need (avg. 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. Extra landings are billed separately after the lesson. We charge the same rates as the airport landing fees.

*Lessons on an aircraft with a combustion engine are only needed for navigation flights. These are covered last in your training.

If you make more than 155 landings, we will invoice these afterwards. We charge the same rates as the airport landing fees. During a regular lesson you usually make 1 or 2 landings. If you do circuit training (learning to land) you will typically make 5 to 6 landings per lesson.

See the airport rates here

Landing at other airports
Each airport has different landing fees. We will incur by far the most costs at Teuge, but of course for your navigation flights you will also visit other airports. When comparing flight schools, if landing fees are not included in the price, make sure you check what those additional costs entail.

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

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

For lessons in an electric aircraft the difference between block time and flight time is much smaller than for a fuel-powered aircraft. That's because we don't 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 airborne is not the same as the time you spend on the entire 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 is on average 0,85 flight hours. So you get lots of real flight time during your lesson!

Yes, that's possible! For clarity, this concerns additional hours on top of the hours you already receive within the theory package.

We call that Theory Support. It also sometimes happens that poor weather prevents flying and the student is already present. In that case, last-minute Theory Support can be taken by the respective instructor.

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 euro in electricity. A conventional training aircraft will quickly cost three to five times as much.

However, there are also a lot of costs that are higher. Fortunately, these costs are expected to fall in the coming years. Think, for example, of the depreciation of the battery. This has to be replaced after only a few hundred hours. In addition, our aircraft are of course brand new. Most flying schools operate somewhat older planes that have already been heavily depreciated. Maintenance is also new for the mechanics, which has required investment in training and you can see that reflected in the price.

So it will still be a while before electric flying really becomes cheaper. A good way to speed that up is to fly electrically as much as possible!

Most lessons will be conducted in a Pipistrel Velis Electro. Navigation flights can be flown in a Pipistrel Explorer or a Bristell B23. All aircraft are very modern; almost all were purchased new by us. The prices mentioned on this page apply to navigation flights with the Pipistrel Explorer.

You don't need to repurchase anything you already have. It's best to discuss with us which parts of the theory you have already arranged yourself and what we may still need to initiate. Please contact us via 055 203 2230

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

The more often you fly, the sooner you can take your exam. It's entirely up to you. At most, 4 or 5 flights per day is kind of the limit. You can therefore (theoretically) complete the 45 hours for your PPL in a few weeks. But your fellow students might also take a year or longer. It's up to you! Some regularity will help you get the hang of it faster. Note. In addition to the practical lessons, you will also have to pass your theoretical exams. You can do this before or during your training.

Paying in advance is much more convenient for us, and for you as well, than paying afterward. First of all, all the less pleasant administrative work is done before you fly. We don't need to discuss money on your flying day. The instructor won't be walking around with a card reader and no, there’s no cash register or change. It's only about flying! You can fully enjoy it. You also don't have to worry about invoices to be paid afterward. And for us; after a pleasant day of teaching we don't have to arrange payments or send annoying reminders. And honestly, it’s obviously helpful for us to keep receivables low. After all, we have to pay for the aircraft, the insurance and the hangar rent in advance too.

If you still want to cancel your lesson and you let us know well in advance, no problem! We'll 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

From: Can I declare the costs as study expenses?

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