EASA Part-FCL governs European licensing under Regulation (EU) 1178/2011, requiring 1,500 flight hours for the Airline Transport Pilot Licence including 500 cross-country. Integrated ATPL courses at major training providers including CAE and L3Harris typically take 18-24 months at all-in costs of approximately 90,000-120,000 EUR before type rating. Modular routes from PPL through CPL/ME/IR run roughly 60,000-80,000 EUR but extend timelines to around 28-32 months.
Type Rating Pathways
An A350 type rating at a major European training centre typically costs roughly 30,000-35,000 EUR over around 8 weeks, while a Boeing 787 rating clears approximately 38,000 EUR over 9 weeks. Both include around 64 hours of full-flight simulator time on D-Level devices certified to Doc 9625 standards. Bonded type ratings reduce the upfront cost but commit cadets to multi-year service contracts with the sponsoring carrier.
Multi-Crew Pilot Licence Programmes
The MPL framework under ICAO Annex 1 lets airlines deliver ab-initio cadets in 240 flight hours, with the remaining competency taught in simulators. Lufthansa European Flight Academy has graduated thousands of MPL holders since the late 2000s. Finnair’s MPL programme runs courses out of Scandinavia with type-rating flow into the A320neo fleet straight after graduation.
Long-Haul Specific Requirements
EASA Part-ORO.FC.230 mandates a recurrent simulator check every 6 months covering upset prevention and recovery, plus a line check annually. Long-haul operations under FTL Subpart Q require augmented crews above 11 hours of flight duty, with bunk rest planning verified by fatigue risk management systems. CRM training under Part-ORO.FC.115 includes 4 hours of human factors content every annual cycle to maintain currency on widebody fleets.