Why would you do your pilot training with ExecutiveFlight?

Sometimes people associate low prices with low quality when they look at flight schools. This is not always the case. Here are some examples:

Discount airlines: Before these came up we were all used to pay up to five times for an airline ticket. Of course the level of service is lower but the price / quality ratio is amazing.

Webshops: Before the introduction of online shops such as PDAshop we bought all our gadgets in the shop and paid 30% more. Conclusion? A new business formula can certainly lead to substantial customer savings without planes falling from the sky.

High training standard:

Fleet flying school
Flexibility
Flight instruction
Location(s)
EASA

The lowest prices:

Cost pilot training The Netherlands
Flight restrictions
Weather

The flight training- and job markets have changed:

Career perspectives
Schoolreputation
Job securities
Selection

Affordable pilot training at ExecutiveFlight Academy

High training standard

The attitude of the Dutch government with regard to General Aviation

The attitude of the Dutch government with respect to General Aviation is dreadful: there are only few eligible voters who fly themselves and on top of that pilots are also badly organized. General Aviation is seen by the government as a highly polluting hobby for the elite that obstructs the commercial air traffic. In reality aircrafts have the lowest emissions and fuel consumption of all forms of transport. Imagine that 300 passengers car drive to Karachi by car instead of going by plane. Emissions from the general aviation is less than 0.1% of that of the land transport, the industry and power generation together. This attitude in the Netherlands with respect to general aviation is bad news for the flying business in general and especially for flight schools.

The Netherlands are a small country with an extremely dense airspace structure

The Netherlands are small. The Schiphol airspace (TMA and CTR) contains somewhat half the country. Then there are the other airports, military bases and numerous no-fly zones. (Nature area, power plant, etc.). Each airport (modification) requires a costly and lengthy EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) and local residents complain bitterly, even if the airport was there before they decided to build a house there. Altogether, we can safely say there is a “hostile environment” for flight schools.

European legislation with regard to flying schools

The European Community has imposed very strict rules in 2001 to all the (candidate) countries: First, based on the JAR-FCL regulations and for some years now to the EASA regulations. At this time any flight training or pilot school from Iceland to Turkey with a curriculum leading to a pilot license must be given exactly in the same way. Furthermore, all pilot training is subject to the same rigorous audits and inspections so the flying lessons in North Western Europe are all of the same high quality at EU-based flying schools. So why pay more?

N.B. This does NOT neccessarily apply to schools in Southern and Eastern Europe and even the USA where often the standards are not followed. Something the seemingly very attractive internet offers do not show. Of course, the airlines know this and they prefer not to take candidates from schools / countries if it’s not really necessary.

Night flying is prohibited in the Netherlands

Flying by night with visual references (VFR) is not permitted in the Netherlands, the flattest country in the world so you’ll have to go abroad for this… Night flight with a Night Qualification (NQ) is completely normal in the rest of the world and a compulsory part of professional pilot training.

Dutch airports are very expensive

The Netherlands has very few airports and they are very expensive and often too busy for flight-training purposes. For many flight schools that are located on small leisure airstrips like Seppe / Breda, Lelystad and Teuge where only flight according to visual flight rules (VFR) is allowed., These small airstrips are typically located at a distance of 50 – 100 Km of this class of airports. So you save a lot of money and time if you get taught at quiet airfields with Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) capabilities. The quality of your education is also much higher. So the training facilities of the Executive Flight Academy are located in peaceful international airports around the Dutch, Belgian, German, French border area with all the possibilities for visual (VFR), instrument (IFR) and night (NQ) flight training opportunities. This is priceless if you want to become a good pilot because it exposes you to professional radio communications and to “” real-life “” flight procedures right from the start.

Student centered flight training philosophy

The flight training student is at the centre of our attention at our flight academy. This results in a flexible, non authoritarian and patient pilot training approach while the flying lessons are taught in a pleasant atmosphere.

Senior team of flight instructors

Our team of flight instructors is very senior. Many have more than 1,000 flight hours at both the Air Force and the airlines. So with us, you’ll never be trainined by last year’s students who just obtained their professional pilot’s license and flight instructor rating!

Many years of experience with lots of references

Many partners of Executive Flight exist since the mid-70s and have already trained more than 500 pilots during that period. References of our former students who are now flying at various airlines and online training captains who are also responsible for the acceptance policy for airlines are available for serious candidates. See our testimonials page.

Combination of controlled and uncontrolled airports

Perfect combination of uncontrolled flight and controlled flying in the areas of Antwerp and Rotterdam.

No airline pilots on active duty in the team

The instructor corps of our flying school does not consist mainly of airline pilots “on active duty”. While being trained by airline pilots sounds very nice, they are very often absent so almost every flying lesson you’ll fly with another flight instructor, which is a disaster. Learning to fly is much faster if you always fly with the same 2-3 instructor(s) during your pilot training.

The lowest prices

Executive Flight Academy rents and uses training aircraft and simulators form several partners from neighboring countries with a much lower cost level than would be possible in the Netherlands. Per pilot study course module we scan the market for those facilities with the best price / quality ratio. The maximum travel time from Holland is 2 hours by car or train. There are also hour building and training opportunities abroad for those who are not limited by family or work and want to go for the most affordable option. The cost of flight training equipment is billed as much as possible without markup to our flight school students. However, you will be training with our flight instructors from our flight school in order to guarantee the quality and consistency of your pilot training. For these services, we use the normal Dutch rates. The result is a perfect, but very affordable pilot training course!

Discount formula Executive Flight

Executive Flight has a discount business philosophy that we borrowed from the business model of Ryanair, the only airline that grows and earnes money year in, year out. We are really doing everything to offer our flight training students the lowest possible prices, while maintaining the safety and quality … Most Dutch flight schools charge about 110,000,- euro for commercial pilot training courses to obtain the Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) and around 15,000, – euro for a Private Pilot Licence (PPL)
As a comparison: At Executive Flight we charge around 12.800, – euro for a private pilot license (PPL) while a commercial pilot flying license (ATPL) costs around 60.000, – euro.

High margins and the introduction of the Euro

The lowlands are among the richest countries in the world. The introduction of the Euro has been massively embraced in the Netherlands to increase margins at the expense of consumers. Many things are now priced the same in euros as before the introduction in guilders, but as we all know, the euro is 2,204 times more valuable. This has an effect the pilot training costs. The Netherlands are pretty much the most expensive country in the world with respect to flight training.

General aviation in the Netherlands

The general aviation in the Netherlands was in the past as much as possible ‘driven’ to the “polder” in Lelystad. But then the IFR (Instrument Flight approaches) were discontinued because of environmental standards. Night flying was forbidden … this means that for all Night or IFR flights the student needs to fly to Groningen or Rotterdam. If these airports are not too busy or not too close to their annual quota … You probably understand the actual cost for the environment and above, all for your wallet! Being homebased at an international IFR airport is a big MUST for a pilot in training.

Weather in the Netherlands ensures high costs

The flying weather in Holland is not the best. This renders the schedules of flight schools unpredictable and longer. The result of all these restrictions is that the overhead, interest and investment write-offs of flight training should be spread over 60% of the theoretical maximum number of flights. And nothing is as expensive as planes just standing there in the industrial warehouse. This is the biggest expense of any flight operation. Executiveflight rents the majority of its material on an hourly basis.

Our fleet

The aircraft of our flying school have, in more than half of the cases, a landing subscription included in the rental rates or greatly reduced landing charges per landing. Often the landing is even free! This applies to VFR, IFR and night landings. This in contrast to the “pay-per-landing” payment model in the Netherlands where you often not only pay a royal sum for the landing, but also an additional fee for flying in the airspace of the airport !! This saves you 1000’s of euros as you’ll land many 100s of times during your training. These costs are often not included in quotes from Dutch flight schools.

The outsourcing of Dutch flying schools abroad,

If you have gone through everything mentioned above, you will understand that the majority of the Dutch flying schools have outsourced their operations (partly) to flight schools in lower-cost countries with savings between 30 and 70% as a result. Consider the US, Spain, Portugal and South Africa. Especially in the US the additional costs for the visa procedure, travel and accommodation are killing. Also you can not work in the US while training unlike the situation in the Netherlands. Do not think for a moment you’ll ever get a greencard to find a job after your pilot training is completed. That’s a total no go for the U.S. immigration. In the U.S. you risk being trained by the students of the previous year! However, beyond the fact that this method significantly reduces the quality of flight training (SEE TRAINING STANDARD) these savings are not passed on to the students, turning them into debtors for life: The price of flight training in the Netherlands towrds a commercial pilot license is about 110,000,- euro. This amount does not include the cost of travel and accommodation, insurance, interest expenses and a type rating. These items can easily double the total to more than 200,000 euros!

Extremely high taxation in the Netherlands

So in the Netherlands, the General Aviation market is synonym for “rich boys’ toys” and no major industry segment. As a result this sector is literally broken by being overtaxed. Two random examples: the 14 theoretical examinations for an ATPL training costs more than 130 euros each. This is double to triple than in the neighboring countries. At the same time directors and management are well above the ‘Balkenende norm” with a salary of around 400,000 to 500,000 euros. Air traffic controllers in the Netherlands earn about the same so that the losses in air traffic control in the Netherlands are so high that the min. V & W refuses to supplement them. Partly because of this the airwaytax, landing fees and examinations in the Netherlands have risen so high that travelers and students turn their backs massively to Dutch airports . The Netherlands think think they can afford this because we have no significant aviation industry any more: KLM was (and is) not able to compete with the discounts after the liberalization of the market and escaped bankruptcy by selling themselves to the highest bidder (Air- France). Fokker previously tried the same with DASA but failed and went bankrupt. Things have been happening to general aviation the same way it has been happening to the automotive market. BPM + VAT nearly doubled the price of a car. Fuel and road taxes are among the highest in the world. Road pricing will be introduced soon. Imagine this in Germany, England or France. Countries with large automotive and aerospace industries. Landing fees The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) clearly indicates that uncontrolled VFR airports do not need a tower crew. All movements are the responsibility of the pilot, which is ideal in a class situation. Most countries do not adhere to this convention but the Netherlands don’t. Even uncontrolled fields are fully staffed. The pilot pays the bill. 15 -to 50, – per landing on a small field is very common while 50 – to 250, – per landing at airports is not exceptional. Try to imagine the cost if you do circuit training during your flying lessons and making a landing every 5 minutes. Blind flying approaches and landings with night lights are even a multitude thereof. Many foreign airports still have a yearly landing subscription available for so-called “home based” flight schools, while many small fields are even free to use. Also many European airports don’t bill anything for practice approaches where the wheels touch the runway. VAT Flying schools are subject to VAT in the Netherlands as opposed to the entire public school system. The regulations in this field are often better in neighboring countries. You can save 19%.

Fuel prices abroad

Fuel prices. Fly training is seen as a commercial activity abroad so that one can refuel dutyfree just like the airlines. This allows you to fuel for half price, so for 100LL AVGAS or jet fuel you often pay double as a flight school in the Netherlands, compared to the surrounding countries. Your consumption is between 20-80 liters per hour, depending on the type of aircraft and flying lessons. Furthermore, EF makes the use of training aircraft that fuel Diesel or Kerosene more affordable which is much cheaper than AVGAS or 100LL. ATPL students only need 200 hours … so calculate the difference.

Automated operations

Our business is highly automated, which renders the business very efficient with a very thin overhead under the motto “not too many people in the office”

Modern fleet

Executive Flight trains on the most modern and highly efficient training aircraft which have been subjected to a so-called diesel conversion for the most part or can be refueled with kerosene causing the fuel to be half price in contrast to the normal jet fuel for piston engines such as AVGAS / 100LL. Think about the Diamond DA42, DA-40 and Robin DR400 …

Home simulators

EF is the only flight school in the Netherlands using Microsoft flight simulator (FSX) that we upgrade and install on your laptop as a procedure trainer. This self-learn / train option allows you to complete your training almost ALWAYS in the minimum amount of time entailing huge savings. Also, we can use this to give remote flying lessons and supervise how it goes.

The flight training- and jobmarkets have changed

Despite all promises no commercial flying school is really able to offer you a job or investment guarantees. Only the KLS (KLM Aviation School) and the Klu (Royal Air Force) can fulfill this promise, although we must note that the latest reports of the KLS unfortunately suggest otherwise … We suggest that you always try to get into the KLS or KLU!

Combine education with work and family

Executive Flight understands that flight training is expensive and especially modular customers (doin part-time education) are wrestling with time and other obligations. (Spouse, children, work, business, 2nd study) Therefore we will do everything we can to adjust the flight academy to the customer rather than the customer having to adapt to the school.

Pay as you go!

With us you’re not immediately locked into a contract of € 120,000 and a similar loan. You pay as you go and you just pay per hour.

Start whenever you want to

You can start at any time with your flight training. No waiting! We adjust your individual curriculum to your availability and your monthly budget. Every Saturday we ask for a three-week rolling forecast of your availability through the week and we plan you flights, briefings and theory classes.

Theory and practice can be done at the same time or separately

Depending on your needs, you can first do the theoretical training and then do the practical, or both simultaneously.

Theory courses can be done part-time and full-time

At Executive Flight all theory courses are completely according to your own choice ranging from full-time classroom to completely distance learning or distance learning (DLS), to be expanded with individual Homework Support (HWS) We use a combination of the old-fashioned teacher holding his piece of chalk in front of a blackboard up to the most cutting-edge e-learning tools.

Less weather dependent by ultramodern equipment

All advanced flight training is done at Executive Flight airports with instrument approach equipment at the DA-42. This multi-engine aircraft has anti-icing and a strike finder to avoid storms, making your training less weather dependent! Also during your first steps towards PPL we take it to the limit in terms of weather. Not because we are cowboys but because we want you to see and feel what the weather can do to you before you embark all alone. The class continues so much more often!

We offer crash courses

“Crash courses” are available which one can have his EASA certification after a few weeks .

Conclusions

Is it really so hard to select the right flightschool? No of course not! But “think before you act” is of great importance when you are engaging in flight training. Therefore:

– Ensure an independent and comprehensive pilot aptitude assessment.

– Go to a foreign flight school or flight academy, rather than to a Dutch school because they are much cheaper.

– Weigh the financial risks against the current job market and you flight aptitude

– Pay in in stallments allowing yourself the freedom to switch schools if you are not satisfied.

– A second mortgage on the house (of your parents) is often cheaper than a student loan.

– Keep your debt as low as possible. Work during your studies.

– Be aware that you’re choosing a life where you’ll be often far away from friends, family and relatives

– Accept that you’ll probably need to ge additional flight hours e.g. as a flight instructor before you qualify for a job as an airline pilot. (Frozen ATPL license + a 1500 hours experience of which 250 multi-engine)

-Understand that the airline industry is very cyclical. High peaks and deep periods of bust follow one another. You should really invest just like with stocks, “anti-cyclical”: When you start your pilot training when the pilot job market is at its peak you will be ready when it falls apart again. Start at rock bottom and after 3-5 years you’ll have gained 1500 hours by the time the market is on the rise.

– Plan ahead and network “Not what you know counts, but who!”

– Provide a “way out” by a 2nd study or a job

– Take the modular route rather than an integrated course. Modular training is much cheaper and the step by step process gives you after each flight training module a flying license or rating rather than only one at the end. This option also allows you to switch flight schools in case you are not satisfied.

– You can save a lot of money by studying by yourself, for example when you choose the “distance learning” option. you have to be the ‘right stuff’ using this route: Motivated and with the proper preliminary education.

– Obtain advise from insiders.

Questions?

This is only a limited selection of all matters that may play a role. We know that at this stage, answers to questions lead to new questions. So if you’re not sure which path is right for you, we can give you independent advise. Go to Contact. Do not worry, we won’t immediately charge you money as soon as we shake your hand!

School approvals: NL-DTO-014 / BE-ATO-005 / HU-ATO-0029

SINCE 2001