AviationCV.com: Pilots holding PPLs could fill the niche of commercial aviation pilots in Europe

According to the data gathered by Civil Aviation Administrations in 18 European countries, there are about 114 thousand pilots holding PPL, ATPL and CPL licenses for operating aircraft and helicopters in the continent at the moment. The most popular type of license in both aircraft and helicopter markets is the Private Pilot License owned by 48 thousand pilots. The ATPL enjoys a slightly lower popularity with 33 thousand license holders in the region. In the meantime, the number of experienced pilots holding CPL licenses amount to 24.5 thousand only. AviationCV.com experts maintain that if the European market demand for pilots continues to increase by 4600 each year (as is expected), the existing CPL/ATPL license holders could fully satisfy the growing need for pilots in the region.

According to the recent inquiry, there are currently around 97 thousand pilots holding PPL, ATPL and CPL aircraft licenses in Europe. Most of them are based in Western Europe (59 thousand) and Southern Europe (21 thousand), while Northern and Central/Eastern European civil aviation institutions list 12 and 4 thousand such license holders respectively. As concerns the aircraft segment only, the PPL is held by 45 thousand, the ATPL – by 31 thousand and the CPL – by 20 thousand pilots in the continent. The collected data reveals that in the combined market of both aircraft and helicopters, PPL, ATPL and CPL licenses are held by 62 thousand pilots in Western Europe, 25 thousand in Southern Europe, 22.5 thousand in Northern Europe and almost 5 thousand pilots in Central/Eastern Europe.

“The number of PPL holders is high enough to fill the previously forecasted niche for commercial aviation pilots. Relevant aviation institutions and pilot leasing agencies not only help young pilots gain the required experience, but may also assist pilots, holding uncompetitive licenses, in retraining and/or pursuing higher licenses. It helps to speed up the process so the aforementioned demand can be satisfied considerably faster,” explained the CEO of AviationCV.com Skaiste Knyzaite.

The academic training for gaining a PPL license takes approx. 2 months and includes a 100 hours’ course. During practical training pilots are required to account for 45 flight hours. In order to gain a CPL, pilots must attend a 200 hours’ theoretical course in commercial aviation (CPL/A) and spend 10-30 hours in practical training. A private pilot wishing to upgrade his license (from a PPL to a CPL) and receive an ‘ATPL frozen’ will have to spend up to 2 years in training.
“Most pilots who hold a private pilot license and wish to continue training are often faced with financial problems. In order to solve this issue AviationCV.com is the first aviation personnel resourcing solutions company which has launched and successfully implemented a program with a guarantee of job contract for a leased pilot. It consists of additional training needed to start flying as a pilot for commercial airlines, retraining, line training as well as a course in finding and providing for the job. The convenient AviationCV.com method of payment allows future pilots to train without flouncing about and worrying about not being able to pay for the course straight away. Only small initial investment from pilot side is needed with the possibility to repay for training when pilot is already working. Airlines also benefit from such system as they can be more flexible in expanding their fleets while knowing that we will provide the required amount of pilots to meet the increasing demand,” says S.Knyzaite.

According to S.Knyzaite, the aforementioned AviationCV.com service package for pilots relieves airlines from huge investments into pilot training and retraining. This way they can concentrate on expanding their fleets, the market can sustain a stable supply of the required aviation personnel and pilots are less likely to face unemployment related to uncompetitive licenses. Moreover, airlines can operate without interruptions during the busiest of seasons regardless of personnel fluctuation. In case of having excess pilots, these can be successfully leased to other carriers thus relieving airlines from unproductive costs which is extremely important in today’s exceptionally competitive and economically challenging market.