Airline pilot
Becoming an airline pilot
Nine modules, from the first flight to the APS-MCC. Each one leads to an actual licence or rating: you control the budget, progress at your own pace and keep everything you have acquired if you pause.
Air Academy New CAG trains airline pilots by the modular route: the candidate first obtains the private pilot licence, passes ATPL theory, builds the required flight experience, then takes the night, multi-engine and instrument ratings and the commercial licence, before Advanced UPRT and crew cooperation.
Why the modular route
- Better control of spending: you pay module by module, each at a price known in advance.
- Progress at your own pace, compatible with a job or studies.
- The option to pause between modules — or to accelerate — without losing anything acquired.
- Each module gives access to an actual licence or rating, usable immediately.
At the end of the course
- You exercise the privileges of a commercial pilot licence — CPL(A).
- You hold the single-engine (SEP) and multi-engine (MEP) piston class ratings.
- You fly under visual flight rules (VFR) and on instruments (IR-ME).
- You hold an Advanced UPRT certificate and a crew cooperation certificate (MCC-JOC or APS-MCC).
The nine modules
Private pilot licence — PPL(A)
One hundred hours of theory and at least forty-five flight hours on the Sonaca 200. The foundation: handling, navigation, decision-making.
ATPL theory
Fourteen subjects in two blocks, in the classroom in Charleroi from Monday to Friday, or by distance learning. Area 100 KSA included. Exam at the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, 75% required in each subject.
Hour building
The candidate builds pilot-in-command experience across Europe on the Diamond DA40. This phase develops a commander’s autonomy of decision.
Night rating — NVFR
Theory briefing, a simulator session, then dual and solo flights with five full-stop landings. Sessions run from October to March.
Multi-engine rating — MEP
Twelve hours of technical briefing, a theory test on the aircraft used, then six hours dual on the Diamond DA42.
Instrument rating — IR-ME
Forty hours on the FNPT II simulator for basic instrument flying, then fifteen hours on the Diamond DA42 for IFR procedures and navigation. PBN included.
Commercial pilot licence — CPL(A)
Fifteen hours dual, focused on precision navigation and flying the aircraft to professional standards: ten on the DA40 G1000 and five on the DA42.
Advanced UPRT
Upset prevention and recovery training on the Extra 330LX. Mandatory before a first type rating on a multi-pilot or single-pilot complex high-performance aeroplane.
Crew cooperation — MCC-JOC or APS-MCC
Crew training on a Boeing B737 simulator with our partner Simtech in Dublin. Required by airlines, and decisive in technical interviews.
Observed durations
The real durations of our courses
Each module has a duration measured on our records, from first class or flight to the end of training. Among students who completed the entire course at the school, one in three finished everything in under two years and nine months; half in under three and a half years, most often alongside a job or studies.
| Course | One student in three in under | Half of students in under | 9 students in 10 in under | Courses measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATPL classroom theory — blocks A and B | 8 months | 8.7 months | 10.9 months | 134 |
| Night rating — NVFR | 2 months | 3.1 months | 5.4 months | 225 |
| MEP and IR-ME combined | 4.7 months | 5.9 months | 20.3 months | 226 |
| — of which students at a sustained rhythm | 4 months | 4.7 months | 6.4 months | 126 |
| Commercial licence — CPL | 1.6 months | 2.3 months | 6.5 months | 249 |
| — of which students at a sustained rhythm | 1 month | 1.4 months | 1.8 months | 92 |
| Complete course at the school — first PPL class to last module | 2.7 years | 3.4 years | 5.1 years | 84 |
Sustained rhythm: at least three training sessions per fortnight. The three columns read as three profiles: the fastest third — highly available students —, the median student, and courses spread out, by choice or by lack of availability. The duration of a modular course depends first on the student’s diary.
Durations measured across all of our completed courses from 2015 to mid-2026: from the first theory class — or, for courses without a theory session, the first flight — to the last training flight or class.
ATPL theory in detail
Fourteen subjects in two blocks. Block A starts in February, Block B in September; there is no imposed order. Classroom courses run in Charleroi from Monday to Friday, 9 to 12 and 13:30 to 16:30. By distance learning, sixty-five hours of classroom attendance remain mandatory.
Area 100 KSA
Area 100 KSA — Knowledge, Skills and Attitude — develops non-technical competencies: communication, leadership, teamwork. Our heads of training attended the first workshop organised by EASA in Cologne in June 2018, and we integrated it into ATPL theory from September 2019, when the regulation only required it from January 2022. It is assessed throughout the course: entry test, workshops, role play, presentations and individual interviews.
Bloc A
- Flight planning and monitoring
- Mass and balance
- Performance
- General navigation
- Radio navigation
- Principles of flight
- Human performance and limitations
Bloc B
- Airframe, systems and powerplant
- Instrumentation and electronics
- Air law
- Meteorology
- Operational procedures
- VFR communications
- IFR communications
Investment
The full cost of training, published
The complete professional course is detailed opposite, at the EASA Part-FCL regulatory minima, VAT included, at the rates in force since 1 February 2026. All of our prices — courses, ratings and hourly rates — are published on this site.
Payment follows progress: each student funds a personal account, whose movements can be viewed online, from which courses and flight hours are drawn as training goes on. Most of our students train alongside a job and spread the course over two to three years.
Add the costs paid directly to third parties: medical examination, theoretical exams at the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority, examiner fees and licence issue.
Professional course — 9 modules
Practical information
Frequently asked questions
What is the total cost of the course?
The complete course, from first flight to APS-MCC, comes to about €79,650 incl. VAT at the regulatory minima. That includes theory, all flight modules, Advanced UPRT and the APS-MCC; it excludes third-party costs — medical, official exams, examiner fees, licence issue — detailed on the prices page.
Do I need a class 1 medical certificate from the start?
It is only required at entry to the CPL module, but we strongly recommend taking it before starting: its criteria are stricter than class 2, and discovering an unfitness after three modules would be costly.
Can ATPL theory be done by distance learning?
Yes. Distance learning gives access to the platform, the materials and the question banks, with sixty-five hours of mandatory classroom attendance. It is the most common route for those who work, and it costs significantly less than the classroom course.
How many flight hours in total?
At least two hundred hours as a pilot by the end of the course, including one hundred as pilot-in-command, and a 300-nautical-mile cross-country with two full-stop landings at aerodromes different from departure. The hour-building module is calibrated to get you there.
How are flights scheduled?
Booking is open: you reserve your sessions online, according to your availability and that of instructors and aircraft. Two to three sessions a week is a realistic rhythm for an available student. If your calendar is constrained — rating validity, counted leave — set the schedule with the school before enrolling: it is the schedule that determines the real duration of training.
Does the course guarantee an airline job?
No school can commit to recruitment. The course brings you to the level airlines require and gives you the certificates; our former students fly today for many European and international airlines. What follows depends on the market and on your profile.
First step
Let’s talk about your training project
One first conversation is enough to establish your starting point, a realistic duration for the course and its budget. Every enquiry receives a personal answer.