Before I did my private pilot license in 2016/2017 I did quite a lot of research into schools around the world. Most schools don’t have the prices on their websites so I had to email them individually and below are the prices that I got.
| School | Location | Price Euros | Included | Not included |
| GoFly | Salisbury, UK | 7,850 | 45 hours flying | Books, exams, test fees, landing away fees, medical, admin |
| EPAG | Merville, North France | 13,707 | 45 hours Flying and ground school, exams | Books, medical, etc |
| Stuart Morton | Limoge, France | 10,000 | 45 hours Flying | Everything else |
| Fly in Spain | Jerez, Spain | 9,800 – 10,850 euros depending on aircraft | Everything flying related | |
| Barcelona Aeroclub | Barcelona, Spain | 8,000 – 11,000, depending on aircraft | Flying hours only | Books, ground school, landing feed, etc. approx. 2,000 euros. |
| Cannes Aviation | France | 14,505 – 15,825 depending on aircraft | 44 hours Flying, ground school, admin fee | Books, exams, test fees, landing away fees, medical |
| Sri Racha Aviation | Thailand | 7,255 | Everything flying related | |
| Madiba Bay | South Africa | 5,206 | Everything flying related | |
| Learn to Fly NZ | New Zealand | 9,300 | Flying, ground school, books, exams, meical, admin fee, landing feed, test fees | |
| Ardmore | New Zealand | 12,980* | 60 hours Flying, everything flying related | |
| Nelson Aviation | New Zealand | 13,800* | 60 hours flying, most flying things | Text books and equipment |
| ESMA | France | Only ATPL | ||
| 43 Flight School |
As you can see, Mediba Bay in South Africa is pretty cheap but they said that the course takes 6 months and I couldn’t persuade them to make it any quicker. Thailand isn’t too bad but I don’t know how much English they would speak. In the end I went with GoFly in the UK because it’s near home and it made more sense to stay with my parents rather than venture somewhere random and have to pay for accommodation, etc. The total cost came to about 10,000 once I’d paid for books, exams, landing fees, etc.
Another consideration is the license that you will receive. The license that you receive can only be used for planes from that country (or region in the case of Europe of USA/Canada). If you get a license from South Africa, you will need to do a conversion course before you can fly in Europe.
Here’s pictures from GoFly:
If I was doing it again, I would either chose GoFly again, or Fly in Spain as I have a friend who just did it there and was very happy with her course.
Good luck!
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