How to Become a Pilot in Ghana

Being an airline pilot is an exciting experience and could be a highly rewarding job. But the big question is how exactly can one become a pilot?  Becoming a professional pilot is one of the popular ambitions of children while growing up. However, many of these kids don’t end up on this career track as a result of lack of information.

Ghanaian pilots are very respected professionals. Furthermore, a commercial aircraft pilot is one of the highest-paid profession in the world. Many pilots in Ghana operate international flight across Africa and other parts of the world.

On the road to a career as a commercial pilot, you’re going to have to make many decisions there are many different training routes, financing options and career paths to choose.

However, the big question still remains, how can one become a pilot in Ghana? Well, in this article, we’ll take you through the process of becoming a certified pilot in Ghana.

How to Become a Pilot in Ghana

There are several steps that you need to take to become a pilot in Ghana. You will need to go through years of education, training and certification to fly an aircraft. This article will help you to achieve your goal of becoming a professional pilot in Ghana.

Requirements for Becoming a Pilot in Ghana

To get accepted as a pilot student in an aviation school, you need to meet the following requirements.

• Age: Applicants must be at least 17 years old. This is the minimum age before you can even gain accepted into aviation schools in Ghana.
• English requirements: Prospective applicants must also be fluent in English and any other native language. English is the language of aviation internationally. It is recommended to meet a Level 4 English standard before receiving your Commercial Pilot License.
• Educational requirements: Have a Secondary School Leaving Certificate with a minimum of 5 credits including Mathematics, English, Physics, Geography, and any other science subjects. Have a University degree which is not mandatory but gives you a higher chance of getting a job
• Obtain a Commercial Pilot Certificate: This is the final requirement before you can get employed by any airline company in Ghana.
• Medical Certificate: In order to start your pilot training you will need to secure a Medical Certificate – in order to get this, it is best to speak with the Flight School you want to start with and they will help arrange it for you

Aviation Schools in Ghana

Before you choose your aviation school, you have to learn the following important things about your future profession:

• You will study a lot to become a pilot
• You will have to pay a lot for your education
• It will be difficult to find a good-paying job immediately after graduation because you need many flying hours if you wish to earn good money.

How much does it cost to study for a pilot? Usually, it’s expensive to study in aviation schools in Ghana. However, if you choose to study abroad, you will have to pay way more.

Below are the aviation schools in Ghana that offer training for the grant of full commercial pilot license with multi-engine ratings.

• Institute of Aviation and Professional Studies
• Ghana CAA Aviation Training Academy
• APTECH Aviation & Hospitality Academy
• Mish Aviation

Obtain Pilot Certificates

There are two main certificates you have to get if you wish to be a pilot:

• Medical certificate
• Aviation certificate

Actually, you can get several types of each certificate. Medical documents differ depending on your aircraft category. Ghanaians who are looking to work as private pilots might need a third or second class document. Those who will become commercial pilots will need to get the first-class document.

In addition to having a medical certificate, you’ll need to get your aviation documents to be eligible for flying on private and commercial jets and aeroplanes.

You should also see the highest-paying airlines for pilots in the world.

Aviation Certificates in Ghana

Here are the types of aviation certificates you will need to get if you wish to become a Ghanaian pilot after graduating from one of the aviation schools:

You can train on the helicopter (H) or a fixed-wing (A). There are several pilot licenses available in Ghana which are:

Student Pilot License (SPL): The student pilot license is issued to a pilot in training, and is a pre-requisite for the student to fly alone in the aircraft, or solo.

Commercial Pilot License (CPL-A or H): The CPL gives holders the privilege to act as flight crew on airplanes operated in commercial air transportation and Captains on light airplanes.

Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL- A or H): The ATPL is the highest level of aircraft pilot certificate. Those certified as Airline Transport Pilots (unconditional) are authorized to act as pilot in command on scheduled air carrier’s.

Private Pilot License (PPL- A or H): The PPL provides holders with privileges as pilots on airplanes operated in private air transportation category and general aviation operations.

Under the licenses, some specific ratings can be added to the licenses to perform some specific operations. The ratings are such as Night Rating (NR), Instruments Rating and many more.

How Long Does it Take to Become a Pilot?

To become a professional pilot in Ghana takes a lot of time due to the different stages of training required. You have to spend several years in school, learn how to fly and earn your flying hours.

A pilot diploma is a good document that can positively influence the aircraft company to hire you.

Besides studying for 4 years, you have to earn from 40 to 4000 hours if you wish to receive a certificate and get a job. The big companies are ready to hire only pilots with diplomas, certificates and at least 4000 hours of flight.

Before you can become a captain or first officer, you will have to work as co-pilot for several years. Only experienced pilots can receive a higher job position. Companies have to be sure that their passengers are in the safe hands of a well-trained captain with many years of professional flights.

How Much Does it Cost to Become a Pilot?

As earlier mentioned, training to become a professional pilot is very expensive. On average, it cost about $58,995 to obtain a private pilot certificate or $75,995 when you have zero experience.

To obtain a basic commercial pilot license including instrument and multi-engine rating, you will be required to pay up to pay between $85,000- $150,000, depending on the institution the training was conducted.

Additionally, you will be required to pay between $10,000- $45000 for other aspects associated with type ratings on various aircraft types and the compulsory Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL).