How to Become an Airline Pilot in India: Licence, Cost and Airlines

The Indian route runs to a DGCA commercial pilot licence (CPL): a Class 2 and then a Class 1 medical, at least 200 hours of flying (DGCA lists 41 approved flying schools), the DGCA theory papers and a radiotelephony licence, and then a type rating on the aircraft your airline flies. Two schools’ published prices for the CPL course run from about ₹55 lakh to ₹64 lakh (14 October 2026), and the government academy, IGRUA, puts its course at about three years. India writes its own licensing rules, in Schedule II of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and DGCA’s Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), so a licence from abroad has to be converted, or for some foreign pilots temporarily validated, before you can fly an Indian airliner.

1. Two medicals: Class 2, then Class 1

Do the medicals before you pay for any flying. In India they come in a fixed order. The Class 2 comes first, from one of the doctors on DGCA’s list of empanelled Class 2 medical examiners. The first (initial) Class 1, the certificate a commercial licence needs, is for a person who already holds a valid Class 2, and DGCA allows it at only 13 centres: three Indian Air Force boarding centres (AFCME in New Delhi, the Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Bengaluru and MEC (East) in Jorhat) and ten DGCA-approved civil aeromedical centres, hospitals in Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Indore and Pune (DGCA’s list, updated 27 August 2026).

Renewals are easier to book: 18 Air Force centres and 55 DGCA-empanelled Class 1 examiners do them, from 45 days before the expiry date. DGCA’s list, quoting paragraph 5 of CAR Section 7, Series C, Part I (Revision 7, 1 October 2025), gives the validity as one year for a pilot under 60 in multi-crew commercial air transport, and six months for a pilot over 40 in single-crew commercial air transport or on instructional duties. If your last Class 1 is more than two years old, you start again with a “re-initial” examination at an Air Force boarding centre or an empanelled civil hospital, with a no-objection certificate from DGCA’s medical directorate applied for on eGCA.

The airlines check it: IndiGo’s postings ask for the Class 1 medical, a current radiotelephony certificate and licence, and your passport, at the last check. The medical certification article explains what the examination looks at.

2. The CPL at a DGCA-approved flying school

The licence Indian airlines hire First Officers on is the DGCA CPL; IndiGo’s requirement adds the instrument rating and the radiotelephony licence. Everything runs through eGCA, DGCA’s portal, which holds your DGCA “computer number”, exam results, medical details and electronic logbook. DGCA’s own eGCA guide describes the start as a student pilot licence and a radiotelephony licence (FRTOL), then training at a Flying Training Organisation (FTO). DGCA listed 41 approved FTOs on 3 October 2026: the central government’s Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), based at Fursatganj in Uttar Pradesh, state-government schools, private companies, trusts and flying clubs.

The flying experience is set in Section J of Schedule II of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. You must be 18 and hold a Class 1, and log at least:

• 200 hours of flight time as pilot of an aeroplane;
• 100 hours as pilot in command, 15 of them in the six months before you apply;
• 20 hours of cross-country flying as pilot in command, including a flight of 300 nautical miles with full-stop landings at two different aerodromes;
• 10 hours of instrument time, of which no more than 5 may be in an approved simulator, and 5 hours at night, including 10 take-offs and 10 landings as pilot in command (sole manipulator of the controls).

The school validates the hours in your eGCA logbook, and you apply for the licence on eGCA once the hours, the skill tests, the exams, a valid Class 1 and English Level 4 are in place. For the theory exams, DGCA’s examination rules ask for Class 12 (10+2) with physics and mathematics.

India’s aviation law changed on 1 January 2025, when the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024 replaced the Aircraft Act, 1934; the 1937 rules still apply until new ones are notified. A draft of those rules, the Bharatiya Vayuyan Niyam, 2025, was published in July 2025; as law firms summarised it, it would let a Class 12 (10+2) holder without physics and mathematics obtain a CPL or ATPL. We found no notice of the final rules at the last check, on 14 October 2026, so check DGCA’s site before you plan around either version.

Cadet programmes put an airline’s selection before the training. At the last check the three Indian airlines on our jobs board ran one each: IndiGo’s Cadet Pilot Programme with partner academies, to a CPL and an A320 rating; Air India’s Pilot Career Program (“DGCA CPL to A320 rating”, as its record has it), for Indian nationals; and Akasa Air’s SkyCadet Programme, for Indian citizens aged 18 to 40 with physics, mathematics and English at 10+2. The cadet programmes page compares who pays.

3. The DGCA exams

DGCA’s Central Examination Organisation (CEO) sets the theory exams. You apply on DGCA’s Pariksha portal and sit them online, in the regular sessions or in the on-demand sessions that DGCA also runs. For the CPL, DGCA’s eGCA guide lists these papers:

• Air Regulations, India’s air law;
• Air Navigation;
• Aviation Meteorology;
• Aircraft and Engines, as two papers: Technical General and Technical Specific, the second on the aircraft type you trained on;
• a Performance paper, where it applies.

Two more tests sit beside them. The radiotelephony exam, RTR(A), gives the certificate the radio licence (FRTOL) needs. It used to be held by the Ministry of Communications’ WPC wing; under the Radio Telephone Operator (Restricted) Certificate and Licence Rules, 2025, notified in June 2025, DGCA took it over, and its examination portal now runs RTR sessions beside the theory papers. And an English language proficiency assessment of at least Level 4, with an organisation DGCA has approved. Your passes count for a limited period towards the licence, set in DGCA’s examination CAR (Section 7, Series B, Part I): check it before you plan a gap between the exams and the flying.

The ATPL has its own DGCA papers, and DGCA has also held an ATPL oral examination; the draft 2025 rules propose to drop the oral, as aviation press reported in 2025. v1prep’s ATPL theory banks follow the EASA syllabus, not DGCA’s papers: they cover the same meteorology, navigation and aircraft systems, but not India’s air law or DGCA’s question style.

4. From CPL to the first airline job

The CPL becomes an ATPL once you have 1,500 hours of flight time, the experience Section M of Schedule II sets, and have passed the ATPL exams. Indian airlines hire long before that, on the CPL. The step between is the type rating, the course that qualifies you on the A320, the 737 or the ATR, and it is where the routes differ most.

Where the first jobs were at each airline’s last check (the date is in the table in step 5):

• IndiGo’s last Junior First Officer round we could date, in September 2024, asked for a DGCA CPL with a multi-engine instrument rating and 25 hours on multi-engine aircraft (no more than 10 in a simulator), at ages 18 to 40, and no A320 rating. Its type-rated A320 First Officers need 200 hours after line release, its non-type-rated Senior First Officers a DGCA ATPL and 1,500 hours (postings of October 2024), and its cadet programmes include the A320 rating. Three things we could not confirm: whether IndiGo is running a Junior First Officer round in 2026, whether it now asks for the A320 endorsement, and how the rating’s cost is shared on that route.
• Akasa Air’s pilot careers page lists two First Officer doors on the 737: experienced First Officers with at least 500 hours of jet or turboprop flying, and “freshers”, CPL holders without a type rating. The 737 rating is arranged; its funding terms, and whether the freshers stream is open now, we could not confirm.
• Air India’s postings were for First Officers already rated on the A320, with 500 hours on the type after line release, and under the age of 40; its cadets are trained. Whether it takes non-rated First Officers outside the cadet programme we could not confirm.

Before you sign for a rating, ask who pays for it, whether it carries a bond, and whether a job follows. The low-hour pilot jobs page lists every airline on our board, in India and beyond, that takes First Officers under 500 hours.

5. The Indian airlines, and what they ask

The Indian airlines on our jobs board, each as it stood at the date in the last column. All three want a DGCA licence (Akasa Air and IndiGo also mention a DGCA validation of a foreign one) and a DGCA Class 1. The doors differ: IndiGo’s Junior First Officer round of September 2024 asked for a DGCA CPL (which itself needs 200 hours) with 25 hours multi-engine and no A320 rating; Akasa Air lists non-type-rated CPL holders as “freshers” beside experienced First Officers with 500 hours on jets or turboprops; and Air India’s postings wanted the A320 rating and 500 hours on the type. Each runs a cadet programme. The pages for IndiGo and Air India set out their requirements line by line.

6. Foreign licences, and foreign pilots

The airlines’ doors first. Air India’s experienced routes are for Indian nationals or Overseas Citizens of India (OCI), and its cadet routes for Indian nationals; Akasa Air asks for the legal right to live and work in India; IndiGo’s cadet routes are for Indian citizens and OCI holders. IndiGo’s careers page lists an expatriate pilots track, but whether a foreign Captain stream is open we could not confirm.

Then the licence. If you train abroad, the foreign licence does not let you fly an Indian aircraft as it stands. DGCA issues an Indian licence on the basis of a valid licence from another ICAO state under CAR Section 7, Series G, Part I (“Requirements for Issue of Indian Licences and Aircraft Ratings to Pilots holding licences issued by Contracting States”). As its 2019 issue and DGCA’s examination CAR set it out, a converting CPL holder passes a DGCA composite paper and Air Regulations, holds an Indian Class 1, and, where the foreign type rating is not current, passes the Technical Specific paper and endorsement training in India. Check the current issue for your case before you commit.

A foreign pilot who is not converting flies in India on a Foreign Aircrew Temporary Authorisation (FATA), DGCA’s validation of a foreign licence for a limited period under CAR Section 7, Series G, Part II; the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Parliament in December 2023 that it uses FATA to cover a shortage of type-rated commanders on some aircraft types. DGCA’s March 2024 draft revision of that CAR says an Indian national with a foreign licence cannot have one and must convert. If you are choosing a school abroad, the FAA and EASA licences compared sets the two largest systems side by side.

7. Money and time

Check what each price includes. IGRUA’s fee is for the course; its extras are listed separately, and FSTC says its fees vary with the base, the aircraft and the multi-engine option. Ask every school about DGCA exam and licence fees, accommodation, the instrument rating and the type rating, how many aircraft are flying, and what happens to the money you have paid if you, or the school, stop.

Common questions

How long does it take to become an airline pilot in India? About three years for the CPL course at IGRUA, by its own estimate; other schools quote their own times. Then come airline selection and the type rating. The CPL becomes an ATPL once you have 1,500 hours of flight time and have passed the ATPL exams.

How much does it cost to become a pilot in India? About ₹55 lakh to ₹64 lakh for a CPL course with the instrument rating and multi-engine endorsement, on two schools’ published prices on 14 October 2026: IGRUA ₹55,00,000 with no GST at present, plus about ₹2.5 lakh of extras, and FSTC Flying School ₹64,00,000. The type rating comes on top unless an airline scheme includes it, so ask who pays and whether it is bonded.

What qualifications do I need to become a commercial pilot in India? A DGCA Class 2 and then Class 1 medical, Class 12 (10+2) with physics and mathematics for the DGCA theory exams, and, for the licence itself, an age of 18, at least 200 hours of flying including 100 as pilot in command, the DGCA papers, a radiotelephony licence and English at Level 4 or above.

Where do I get a DGCA Class 1 medical? The first Class 1 is for a pilot who already holds a Class 2, and it is done at one of 13 centres on DGCA’s list: three Indian Air Force boarding centres and ten DGCA-approved civil aeromedical centres. Renewals are done at 18 Air Force centres or by 55 DGCA-empanelled Class 1 examiners, from 45 days before expiry (DGCA’s list, 27 August 2026).

Can I convert an FAA or EASA licence to a DGCA licence? Yes. DGCA issues an Indian licence on the basis of a valid licence from another ICAO state under CAR Section 7, Series G, Part I. A CPL holder sits DGCA’s composite paper and Air Regulations and needs an Indian Class 1, with more papers and training in India where the foreign type rating is not current. Check the current issue of the CAR for your case.