Quick Answer
How do you become a pilot in India?
Six stages, and the order matters more than the speed. Confirm 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics. Clear a Class 2 medical — the cheapest gate and the one that can stop everything. Apply for a computer number, which needs no medical certificate and no flying school. Clear the 5 DGCA written papers at 70% each. Fly 200 hours at a flying training organisation. Then the Class 1 medical, RTR (A) and the skill test, and the licence application on eGCA.
How to Become a Pilot in India
Six stages, each created by a different rule, and they do not run one after another. This is the whole route, what each stage requires, and the honest answer to how long it takes.
Checked against the Aircraft Rules, the DGCA examination and medical CARs, the Pariksha portal and the eGCA user manuals on 15 September 2026. Every figure is sourced below.
To fly for a living in India you need a Commercial Pilot Licence: 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics, a Class 1 medical, 5 DGCA written papers at 70% each, RTR (A), English proficiency at Level 4, and 200 hours of flying — held from age 18. Training itself can start at 16, and the written papers from 16.
On this page
- The route, in one picture
- How long it actually takes
- Stage 1 — School, and the two subjects
- Stage 2 — The medical, before you spend
- Stage 3 — Computer number and the papers
- Stage 4 — Flying the hours
- Stage 5 — RTR, English and the skill test
- Stage 6 — The licence, and what comes after
- What it costs, and the one figure we can cite
- What you can run in parallel
- Frequently asked questions
- Sources
The route, in one picture
The licences form a ladder. Most people picture becoming a pilot as one long course; it is closer to four separate qualifications, each with its own age, and a set of examinations running alongside them.
16
SPL
Student Pilot Licence
17
PPL
Private Pilot Licence
18
CPL
Commercial Pilot Licence
21
ATPL
Airline Transport Pilot Licence
How long it actually takes
Every other page answers this with a number. We are not going to, and it is worth explaining why: no rule anywhere sets a duration for becoming a pilot. What the rules fix are floors — the things that cannot go faster however much you pay. Everything else is your flying school’s throughput.
| This part | Cannot go faster than | Fixed by |
|---|---|---|
| Computer number | 15 working days on the manual route, immediate through DigiLocker | DGCA Pariksha |
| Written papers | 4 regular sessions a year, plus 8 on-demand sessions | DGCA Programme of Examinations |
| A passed paper counts for | Five years, towards a CPL or ATPL | Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 7, Series 'B', Part I, Rev. 2 dated 13 February 2019, para 6.7 |
| Flying | 200 hours, all flown inside the 5 years before you apply | Schedule II, Section J, para 1(e) |
| Class 1 medical lasts | One year up to age 60 | Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 7, Series 'C', Part I, Rev. 6 dated 18 October 2022 |
| Skill test | Flown within the six months before applying | Schedule II, Section J, para 1(h) |
| Licence application | Fee payable within 48 hours of submission; the submission date is the date payment completes | DGCA eGCA user manual |
The question to ask instead
The variable that decides your timeline is how many hours a student at your flying school actually flies per month — which depends on aircraft availability, instructor availability and weather, and varies between schools by a factor most students never find out until they have paid. Ask any school you are considering for hours flown per student per month, and for what happens to your slot when an aircraft goes unserviceable. Those two answers will tell you more about your timeline than any article, including this one.
Stage 1 — School, and the two subjects
Class 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics from a recognised Board or University
Class 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics from a recognised Board or University — Section J, para 1(b). Two subjects from a recognised board. Not a stream, not a school, and no minimum percentage.
Students from a Biology or Commerce stream clear both subjects as private candidates through NIOS and then apply. It adds time, so it belongs at the front of a plan rather than the middle.
For the paperwork later you will need both the marksheet and the pass certificate for Class 10 and Class 12. Marksheets and certificates must be legible and complete — blurred, cropped or partial scans are a listed rejection reason.
Stage 2 — The medical, before you spend
Class 2 to train, Class 1 for the licence
A Class 2 covers the Student Pilot Licence and the Private Pilot Licence, so it is what lets you begin. The Commercial Pilot Licence requires a Class 1.
Book the medical before committing money to a flying school. A student pilot licence needs a Class 2, but the licence you are training towards needs a Class 1 — and finding a disqualifying condition after paying a deposit is an expensive way to learn it.
The examination covers physical and mental, visual and colour perception, hearing. The CAR sets out what is assessed. It does not publish a pass rate, and no honest page can tell you in advance whether you will clear it. DGCA lists 13 approved centres, four of them in Delhi and the NCR.
Stage 3 — Computer number and the papers
5 papers at 70% each
Everything examination-related runs on the Pariksha portal against a computer number, which you can apply for from age 16. Register through DigiLocker and it is allotted immediately; the manual route takes 15 working days.
5 written papers: Air Navigation, Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulations, Technical General and Technical Specific. A candidate who secures a minimum of 70% marks in the theoretical knowledge examination of a particular subject is declared PASS. The 70% applies to each subject on its own. There is no aggregate, and a strong paper does not carry a weak one.
₹2,500 per paper in a regular session, ₹5,000 on demand. Papers are cleared one at a time — but clearing papers years before you finish your flying hours is not free. Count backwards from the licence application, not forwards from the first paper.
Stage 4 — Flying the hours
200 hours total
200 hours as pilot of an aeroplane, flown within the 5 years before you apply — Schedule II, Section J, para 1(e).
Inside that total: 100 hours pilot-in-command, 20 hours cross-country as pic, 10 hours instrument time, 5 hours night flying. Inside, not added. Adding them produces a figure no rule asks for, and it is the most common error on pages about this.
Simulator time is capped: of the 10 hours of instrument time, not more than 5 hours may be on an approved simulator.
Stage 5 — RTR, English and the skill test
Three things people forget
RTR (A) is required for the licence and examined separately from the DGCA written papers, under the Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and Licence Rules, 2025.
English Language Proficiency has to be cleared at Level 4 or above. It appears on almost no guide to this subject and it will stop a licence application dead.
The skill test is flown for an examiner on the type you are applying on, within the six months before you apply.
Stage 6 — The licence, and what comes after
CPL at 18, ATPL at 21
The licence is a separate application on a separate portal: Services → Issuance of Commercial Pilot Licence. It will not move until all six prerequisites are in place.
A secure digital licence carrying ICAO-aligned security features, meant to establish authenticity, prevent tampering and allow verification in real time. It has covered the Commercial Pilot Licence since February 2025 and the Airline Transport Pilot Licence since 21 January 2026, and the electronic licence is accessed through the eGCA mobile application.
An ATPL comes later and has its own age: 21. Acting as pilot-in-command of a commercial aeroplane.
What it costs, and the one figure we can cite
No Indian government body publishes a market price for pilot training — DGCA, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, PIB and parliamentary answers give flying-school counts and licences issued, never fees. One authority publishes its own price, and it is a government academy.
Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA)
Government flying academy under the Ministry of Civil Aviation
₹55,00,000
Covers
- – 465 hours of ground training across the DGCA subjects
- – 20 hours on a single-engine cockpit procedure trainer and 20 hours on a twin-engine simulator
- – 200 hours of flying, the figure the CPL requires
- – Instrument Rating and multi-engine endorsement
Charged separately
- – About ₹2,50,000 for uniform, study material, navigation computer and headphones
- – DGCA and RTR examination and licence fees, paid by the trainee directly
- – Hostel at ₹2,000 per person per month
- – Messing at roughly ₹15,000 per month
- – University and examination fees, where a candidate also enrols for the BSc
Statutory examination fees are separate and small by comparison: ₹2,500 per paper in a regular session. Before comparing two schools, get both to answer the same questions — the hourly rate, what happens if you need more than the quoted hours, and whether the Instrument Rating and multi-engine endorsement are inside the number or outside it.
What you can run in parallel
The single most expensive mistake is doing these in series when they did not have to be.
- →The computer number and the written papers need no medical certificate and no flying school. Start them while you are still deciding where to fly.
- →The medical is the one thing to do first rather than in parallel, because a disqualifying finding changes the whole plan and it is cheaper to learn early than late.
- →Papers and flying hours run alongside each other. The constraint is the five-year window: for the issue of a CPL or an ATPL, that period is five years.
- →The NIOS route for Physics and Maths, if you need it, runs alongside everything else — but nothing downstream can finish without it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to become a pilot in India?
No rule sets a duration, and any page quoting one without a source is guessing. What the rules fix are floors: 200 flying hours, 4 regular examination sessions a year plus 8 on-demand ones, a computer number in 15 working days or immediately through DigiLocker, and a skill test inside the six months before applying. What varies is flying-school throughput — aircraft availability, instructor availability and weather — and that is set by your school, not by DGCA. Ask your school for hours flown per student per month and you will have a better estimate than any article can give you.
What is the first step to becoming a pilot?
Two things, in this order. Confirm you have or can get 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics. Then book the medical — book the medical before committing money to a flying school. A student pilot licence needs a Class 2, but the licence you are training towards needs a Class 1 — and finding a disqualifying condition after paying a deposit is an expensive way to learn it.
How old do you have to be?
To hold the licences: SPL at 16, PPL at 17, CPL at 18, ATPL at 21. To start, 16 on a Student Pilot Licence, and you can apply for a computer number and begin clearing written papers from 16.
Is there an upper age limit?
Not on the examination side — No maximum age is prescribed. What changes with age is the medical renewal interval: a Class 1 is valid for one year up to 60 and six-monthly after that.
Can I become a pilot without Physics and Maths?
Students from a Biology or Commerce stream clear both subjects as private candidates through NIOS and then apply.
How many exams do I have to pass?
5 written papers — Air Navigation, Aviation Meteorology, Air Regulations, Technical General and Technical Specific — at 70% each, per subject rather than as an aggregate. Examined separately from the DGCA written papers, and required for CPL issue under Section J paragraph 1(g).
Do I need to join a flying school before I start the exams?
No. The two are independent. The computer number is an examination identity and needs no flying school, no logbook and no medical certificate. Starting the papers early is one of the few ways to compress the overall timeline.
What does it cost?
The one figure that comes from an authority publishing its own price: Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), Government flying academy under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, publishes ₹55,00,000 for its Ab-initio to CPL, fixed wing course. Private flying schools quote differently and no government body publishes a market rate, so treat any range you see online as unsourced until someone names the document.
Which licence do I actually need to fly for an airline?
A Commercial Pilot Licence is the one that lets you be paid to fly — Flying for payment. Requires 200 hours of flight time. An Airline Transport Pilot Licence comes later, at 21, and is what lets you act as pilot-in-command of a commercial aeroplane.
Does We One Aviation place students into airline jobs?
We teach the DGCA ground subjects and arrange flight training with partner flying schools. We do not own aircraft or simulators, we do not employ pilots, and we do not place students into airline jobs — hiring decisions rest with the operator.
Sources
Read on 15 September 2026. Where a figure could not be traced to one of these, it is not on this page — which is why there is no duration in months anywhere above.
- –Aircraft Rules, 1937, Schedule II — licence ages, education and the 200-hour experience table
- –Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 7, Series 'B', Part I, Rev. 2 dated 13 February 2019
- –Civil Aviation Requirement, Section 7, Series 'C', Part I, Rev. 6 dated 18 October 2022
- –Flight Crew Computer Number Registration — FAQ (DGCA Pariksha)
- –DGCA launches Electronic Personnel Licence services for the Airline Transport Pilot Licence, 21 January 2026 (PIB)
- –Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA) published course fees
Work out your own timeline
We teach the DGCA ground subjects and arrange flight training with partner flying schools. We do not own aircraft or simulators, we do not employ pilots, and we do not place students into airline jobs — hiring decisions rest with the operator.
What we can do in one conversation is tell you which stages you are already through, which can run in parallel, and what to ask a flying school before you pay a deposit.
Plan Your Route
Fill the form — our team will call you within 2 hours.
The six stages
- 1. School, and the two subjects
- 2. The medical, before you spend
- 3. Computer number and the papers
- 4. Flying the hours
- 5. RTR, English and the skill test
- 6. The licence, and what comes after
People also ask
How do you become a pilot in India?
Six stages, and the order matters more than the speed. Confirm 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics. Clear a Class 2 medical — the cheapest gate and the one that can stop everything. Apply for a computer number, which needs no medical certificate and no flying school. Clear the 5 DGCA written papers at 70% each. Fly 200 hours at a flying training organisation. Then the Class 1 medical, RTR (A) and the skill test, and the licence application on eGCA.
What qualification do you need to become a pilot?
Class 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics from a recognised Board or University Students from a Biology or Commerce stream clear both subjects as private candidates through NIOS and then apply.
How long does it take to become a pilot in India?
No rule sets a duration, and any figure quoted without a source is a guess. The regulations fix floors — 200 flying hours, the examination session calendar, the medical validity — not durations. What actually decides your timeline is your flying school: how many aircraft it has and how many students share them. Ask a school for hours flown per student per month and you will have a better estimate than any article can give you.
What is the first step to becoming a pilot?
Two, in this order. Confirm the education gate. Then book the Class 2 medical, because it is inexpensive relative to everything after it and it is the one result that can end the plan. Only then start spending.