How to become a pilot in South Africa

Most people in South Africa start with a private pilot licence (PPL): at least 45 hours of flying at a flight school approved by the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA), a Class 2 medical, a set of theory exams and a flight test. You can hold one from the age of 17. From there, the commercial licence is the road to flying for a living.

1. Get an aviation medical

Do this first: there's no point paying for lessons if something stops you getting a medical certificate. SACAA sorts medicals into classes: Class 2 covers private and student pilots, Class 1 airline and commercial pilots, and Class 4 recreational pilots such as microlight and balloon pilots.¹ Only a designated aviation medical examiner can do it, not your GP; regular examiners issue Class 2 and 4, and senior examiners all classes.¹

Under the regulations a Class 2 certificate lasts 60 months if you're under 40, 24 months once you're past 40 and 12 months past 50.¹² One flight school notes that the first one needs a chest X-ray.² If you're aiming for an airline career, get a Class 1 straight away: it's the one you'll eventually need. More in aviation medicals explained.

2. Choose a flight school

Train at an Approved Training Organisation: SACAA approves the organisations that deliver pilot training.⁵ Before you sign up, ask each school for its full price list, including what isn't in the package, which aircraft you'll fly, how many aircraft and instructors it has for the number of students, and how often you can realistically fly. Visit on a weekday and talk to students.

See how to choose a flight school for how to check a school's approval. Browse flight schools by region on Sonowe Fly, and check the weather and runways at their airfield on the airfield pages.

3. Get your student pilot licence

You need a student pilot licence before you fly solo or sit the PPL exams. You can get one from age 15 with a medical certificate, your ID and an application to SACAA, usually handled by your school.³ The SACAA fee is R847 from 1 October 2026.⁶ You can fly solo from 16.²

4. Ground school and the theory exams

The PPL theory is written online at an accredited exam centre. Schools describe eight SACAA exams with a 75% pass mark, covering principles of flight, air law, human performance, meteorology, aircraft technical and general knowledge, flight performance and planning, and navigation.² All of them must be passed within 18 months of passing the first.³ Each subject costs R427 from 1 October 2026; a re-mark is R759.⁷

You'll also need English language proficiency at level 4 and a restricted radiotelephony (radio) licence, each with a practical test.³ The radiotelephony exam is R796.⁷

5. Learn to fly

The minimum is 45 hours. The PPL requirements school pages describe are at least 25 hours with an instructor, including instrument flying instruction, and at least 15 hours solo, including at least 5 hours of solo cross-country flying from one airfield to another.²⁴ One school also lists 5 hours in a simulator.³

Plan for more than the minimum: one school says a typical student has 45 to 65 hours in the logbook by the time they're ready, and that most take 3 to 5 months.⁴ Flying two or three times a week, rather than once a fortnight, means less time relearning and fewer paid hours.

6. Take the flight test and get your licence

When your instructor signs you off, you fly a skills test with an examiner. It must be within 36 months of passing your last theory exam.³ You need to be 17.² SACAA then issues the PPL; the issue fee is R1 082 from 1 October 2026.⁶

A PPL lets you fly for fun, take friends and family, and fly cross-country, but not be paid to fly. To keep flying afterwards, join a flying club, or find an aircraft through Hire & fly.

If you want to fly for a living

The licences side by side: PPL, CPL and ATPL compared.

• Night rating: at least 5 hours of theory, 10 hours of instrument instruction (no more than 5 in a simulator), 5 night take-offs and landings with an instructor, and a dual night cross-country of at least 150 nautical miles.³ How to get a night rating.
• Commercial pilot licence (CPL): from age 18 with a Class 1 medical, about 200 hours in total (one school describes 155 hours on top of the 45 for the PPL), a night rating and a general radio licence, plus the CPL theory exams.³ CPL exams cost R796 a subject.⁷
• After that: an instrument rating, multi-engine experience, building hours (often by instructing), and eventually the airline transport pilot licence.

One Johannesburg school prices its full "zero to commercial" course at R750 344 over 12 to 18 months full-time.⁸

Other ways into the air

Microlights and light sport aircraft

Microlights, gyroplanes and light sport aircraft are flown on a National Pilot Licence (NPL) under Part 62 of the regulations, a separate and cheaper route. A Class 4 medical covers recreational pilots,¹ and NPL exams cost R471 a subject.⁷ For a microlight the minimum is 25 hours, at least 15 of them solo, including a dual and a solo cross-country of at least 90 minutes each, and the licence is available from 17.⁹ Ask the school which aircraft categories its training covers.

The South African Air Force

The Air Force trains pilots for free through its Military Skills Development System, starting at the Central Flying School at Langebaanweg. Its 2026 application form asks for South African citizenship, ages 18 to 22 with a matric (up to 26 with a tertiary qualification), mathematics, physical science and English at level 4, an admission point score of at least 24, and medical fitness.¹⁰

Bursaries

SACAA runs bursaries, mainly for students from disadvantaged communities, and points people to its bursary page and [email protected]. It notes that poor mathematics and science marks often make learners ineligible.¹¹ Intakes open and close quickly, so check its careers pages often.

Do you need maths and physics?

For a private licence, your flying school is the one to ask. One school lists pure mathematics and physical science "or sufficient knowledge thereof" for the PPL and CPL, citing the SACAA technical standards, and offers an entry exam for students without them at Grade 12 level.³ The Air Force¹⁰ and bursaries¹¹ do ask for them. If you're still at school and want to fly professionally, take both.