Amounts

As an indication, a modular pilot route, including PPL, hour building, ATPL theory, CPL, IR and MCC, costs roughly €65,000 to €100,000 (2026 prices). According to the E-Flight Academy website (quoted in 2025), a full-time modular route to ATPL costs about 119,000 euros. According to one pilot in 2025, a modular route with CPL ME/IR abroad, including an APS MCC, costs about 70,000 to 80,000 euros. According to a student who finished in 2019, a complete modular CPL (single engine) cost about 35,000 euros in total.261214

What is included

At E-Flight Academy, the CPL skill test (exam) is not included in the course price; rental of the exam aircraft and the examiner are invoiced afterwards.3

Additional costs

At E-Flight Academy, the costs of the CPL skill test (exam), including rental of the exam aircraft and the examiner, are not included in the course price and are invoiced afterwards. Prices quoted by flight schools are based on the minimum number of hours, which in practice is almost never achieved exactly, so expect higher costs than advertised. The CPL exam requires at least 200 flying hours; after the PPL (from 45 hours), about 60 to 90 hours of hour building are needed as an indication, with the IR and CPL covering about 65 to 75 hours. When hour building in the US, you can count on a daily average of 3.5 to 4 hours of flying. Costs for a flight ticket (about 1,000 euros) and accommodation (about 200 euros per day) should be included in the calculation. According to a student in 2023, time building starts straight after the PPL, as the follow-on courses contain no solo hours.36913

Comparison

Converting an FAA CPL/ME/IR to EASA cost about 11,000 euros plus the theoretical knowledge exams at a Swedish training provider in 2025. As an ICAO CPL holder you get a shortened course, but you still have to take all the theoretical knowledge exams. One option after the PPL is to do the CPL ME IR training in the US under the FAA and then convert to EASA; with an ICAO CPL you got a substantial reduction in hours. Whether this works out cheaper is something you have to calculate yourself. According to pilots in 2024, the US FAA system allows hours in different categories of aircraft to be combined. With an FAA CPL (aeroplane) and about 50 hours of helicopter time, a CPL(H) can be obtained, which is much cheaper because helicopter hours cost about twice as much. A drawback is that you build few hours in the helicopter category. According to a pilot in 2025, cheap hour building is possible in Poland for about 150 euros per hour and in Spain for 170 euros per hour on modern aircraft. In 2007, FAA flight training in the US (CPL/IR/ME) cost about 40,000 to 50,000 dollars, about 37,000 euros at the time. A modular route described as cheap in 2022 involves obtaining the PPL in Europe, followed by the Instrument Rating and Commercial in the US or Canada, and then conversion to a European licence. A sample calculation from 2011 showed a total of about 38,000 euros for an FAA PPL, 100 hours PIC and IR at a US school, plus conversion to JAA CPL/ME/IR including theory, excluding accommodation and car. According to a helicopter pilot in 2013, helicopter training was no shorter than comparable aeroplane training (CPL(H) with CPL(A), IR(H) with IR(A)) and slightly more expensive. According to a pilot in 2008, in 1992 he paid just under 30,000 dollars in the US for a package of Private, Commercial, Instrument, Multi-Engine, CFI, CFII, MEI and MEII, including accommodation and a food allowance of 75 dollars per week.4567811151617