Smatsa flight academy (Serbia)

[Flyer-Katanic]

I am attending to Smatsa flight academy in November of 2013 for an intergrated ATPL(A) course.

The price for this course (Which includes all your licenses needed to become a commercial pilot, such as PPL,CPL,ME,IR,MCC & etc) is 41,000 Euros and your graduate with 524 flight hours. I am a bit sketched out, why is it so cheap ?:ooh: Here in Canada you have to pay at least $150,000 which doesn't include the plane rental.

SMATSA Aviation Academy - Vr (http://www.smatsaaviationacademy.rs/)

They seem legit but I fear that other fees might come up and that the 41,000 Euros is just a way for them to lure you into the school...


Thanks

[PigeonVoyageur]

Hi, there are a few things that you have to take into consideration. First, where do you intend to work eventually - in Canada or in Europe. If in Europe, do you have EU citizenship to be able to live and work in Europe? If yes, then a EASA licence seems logical to go for.

If you intend to work in Canada, you must be aware that the EASA (European) licence issued by European schools are not readily acceptable in Canada or even in USA. If you intend to fly planes registered in Canada, you will have to convert your licence to the Canadian licence, and you better find out with a flight school what this entails in terms of theory exams and CPL, ME/IR tests, then see what this will cost. For example, to convert an ICAO licence to a EASA one, you have to re-sit all 14 ATPL examinations and do a minimum of flights for conversion of the CPL and ME/IR licences, then do the tests. As you see, this will mean additional time and expenses to do that.

Now, to answer your question whether the fees are low in Serbia just to lure the student and then to add other fees like 'you don't have the required skills after the set time to acquire it, and you need additional flight time, etc....'. It can be so because the salaries of the staff in the flight school is low compared to the other European countries. However, if you read through some PPRune threads, you will find some horror stories about some schools. I'm not saying that Smatsa is like one of them since I don't know and I can't answer on this. But be aware that there are quite a few "cow-boys" in this business all around the world who are not professional and they can shut down shop quickly and you are left out on a limb having paid out quite a consequential sum of money. So to repeat what has been posted on this site MANY times: NEVER PAY A HUGE SUM OF MONEY UPFRONT!! As all the posts say, you must be able to visit the school before you decide, or the school has very good credentials, and nearly no bad reviews on PPrune or some other forums dedicated to flying.

If you intend to go Integrated ATPL, you must ensure that the course is approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of the country. Be careful about the wording that some schools employ, for example, "Ab-initio ATPL training", which isn't integrated since they might not have had the approval of the authorities to carry out such a course.

In this section of PPrune - Professional Pilot Training, you will find quite a few threads on the schools and the experience of some people at these schools. I did go through it, and I haven't come across Smatsa at all, but there are some posts on certain Eastern European and Western European schools which are worth reading.

If you can't find anything on a specific school, and you are intent on going there, then there is no option than to visit them, see their setup, and talk to some ex-students of the school.

That was the objective part.

Personally, unless I can go there and visit an Eastern European school, I won't blindly sign a contract from thousands of miles away.

PPruners who have had a good experience of these schools: Please don't shoot me down!!:O But your inputs are welcome.

Good luck.

[Flyer-Katanic]

Thank you for your reply, I do have a Serbian citizenship and after completing the program I do plan on applying for Jat Serbian Airways, Wizz Air, Ryanair and other low-cost carriers that consider low hour pilots for employment.

Now say in the future 10 years from now if I apply for a job at Emirates or Qatar, will they accept my European license or will I have to convert ?

Thank you

[FougaMagister]

Of course, if you have dual citizenship and speak the language, it makes sense to look up Smatsa Aviation Academy.

As regards courses prices, they are indeed very competitive, but not unusual in Central Europe; a quick search found these large FTOs in Poland and the Czech Republic, which offer comparable rates:

fATPL ALL-INCLUSIVE - Fly in Poland - Fly in Poland (http://www.flyinpoland.com/courses/atpl/)
Flying Academy - Zero to ATPL (http://www.flyingacademy.com/index.php?page=zero-to-atpl)

I completely agree with the above advice to go and visit the FTO before commiting tens of thousands of Euros. The extra travel expense is priceless compared to what you can actually learn by getting there yourself - and asking the right questions.

However, in this industry you'll be lucky to be able to predict what will happen in the next 10 months, let alone 10 years...

Cheers :cool:

[Flyer-Katanic]

Thanks for your replies.

I did in fact contact the school early this morning and emailed a few former students through Linkedin.com (now mostly pilots on Wizz air and Jat Serbian Airways), all my questions were answered.

If anyone reading this tread, a good way to find out information about a certain pilot academy do it through Linkedin if you haven't already

[Halfwayback]

Glad you got your answers and good luck with the training.

Thread closed

HWB