European Schools for Flight Training?

[DavidKando]

Hi all,

I'm new to this whole PPRune forum, a lot of scrolling but first time posting lol!

I'm a 21 year old living in Ireland and I was wondering if people could possibly help me with some info regarding what "popular" flight schools are in Europe that are ideal for inegrated flight training.

I've heard a lot about the following but I'm not sure which to pursue as there are a lot of mixed opinions

Air Bartolini - Weather conditions not ideal but I also recently heard that they're low on instructors in the school at the time so not a lot of flying is taking place (not 100% true but a rumour)
Flyby in Spain - A lot of mixed opinions regarding this school
FTE Jerez - Difficult to find/fund 120,000 EUR

But I'm also open to other suggestions and schools that many others have been successful with!

Your help is truly appreciated and many thanks in advance,
I'm always open to a beneficial discussion!
Regards,
David

[WindyTurtle]

if you want to stay local to Ireland, I've only ever heard good things about AFTA in Cork. It kinda depends on what you want out of your school i.e. diverse weather, fleet, instructor ratio, in-house maintenance etc? No school is going to have everything surely

[FougaMagister]

In Poland I only heard good feedback about Adriana Aviation. (Note that they propose decent accommodation on site). Well worth checking out.
Cheers :cool:

[Sheikhey]

Hi David.

From the three schools you have mentioned I only have first hand experience of Bartolini. I advise strongly against signing up to a course there. They certainly had a good reputation but it seems over the past year they have gone downhill. Once they have your money then communication is terrible, they do not honour the prices they agree, the courses take around double the time they tell you and I would say they are generally dishonest to deal with. I left and I’m so glad I did.

Aside from my own personal experience I personally know many people who have left because of the situation there with training running way over time and many more who want to leave but are already financially committed to Bartolini. Lots of stories recently of students who had to repeat their multi engine theory classes as they had not completed their multi engine training within the six month validity period of the theory training.

I’m aware also that a current group of students there have felt it necessary to write an open letter to the management seeking a remedy for the situation with delays of many months resulting in this cost of extra theory training and accommodation costs.

I hope this doesn’t come across as a hatchet job but unfortunately at the time that I was doing my research on schools in Europe I didn’t have this information so I ended up signing up with Bartolini. Maybe I can save somebody else that trouble.

[peti]

Hi all,
​​​​
​​​​would be anybody inrerested in doing some time building together in Central Europe? Looking forward! Thanks,

[AlwaysWondering]

Is there any reason you want to go integrated?
It is generally a lot cheaper, and can be comparably as quick (or quicker), to do modular.

As for your schools, I have friends studying at two and have actually been to both Lodz and Jerez.
I know both Bartolini and FTE have really good reputations and are known for good quality training with lots of former students now flying for airlines. All big pluses.

On Bartolini, what Sheikhey above says is definitely right in the parts I have knowledge of. I have one friend who finished the CPL/ME-IR not long before Christmas and he took six months to complete the course - this as a full-time student - when they were promised 3-4 months. He was lucky as he didn't have to redo the MEP by a few days as some students have had to do. Though he was happy with the quality of the training. The integrated programme has very similar long delays. I disagree with Sheikhey in part. They are bad at communication both before and after they have your money. I also haven't heard of them not honouring prices in student's contracts. Though there are some extras like familiarization which may not be clear. Sheikhey Did you do the CPL/IR there?

FTE is just crazy expensive. It's €125k now when you could very easily do it for €50-60k less elsewhere - possibly even less. Not possible unless you have a lot of money in the bank/ win the lottery/ parents willing to remortgage their house. The campus is also less glitzy in real life than the brochure suggests. From what I understand, their students do complete in the time they suggest give or take a few weeks. Aer Lingus has their cadets there and applying to their scheme might be one sensible option.

My honest advice would be to firstly get a class one medical. Do that before anything else. After that, do the PPL locally with a local flying club. It will generally work out a lot cheaper. Though you should tell your instructor that your aim is commercial and you want to be quite 'strict' on procedures, checklists, comms etc. Oh, and always pay as little in advance as possible.
No school ticks every box. There'll always be something negative about every school. You need to balance the positives and negatives. Always visit places before parting with money. Try to make connections with students there and get off the record feedback.
Also, apply to airline sponsored schemes like Aer Lingus' scheme and BA's when they open. The odds are low, but it's worth a shot.
Remember that many schools (especially FTE) will talk about their special links with airlines. In reality, this is just marketing guff. Don't be suckered in by a shiny brochure and a slick sales team.

[Sheikhey]

No, I didn’t do the CPL/IR there. I did the ATPL theory and I reserved a place on the CPL/IR course but luckily for me, I took up a place with a different school instead.

[Scott C]

Check out Smart Aviation - https://www.smartaviation.eu/en/ MEP/CPL/MEIR for €19,500. I believe they advertise 8 weeks duration, but realistically with weather etc, it's 8-10 (possibly 12 if you're really unlucky). They also offer PPL and ATPL theory - I think via Bristol Ground School.

If you want to go the fully integrated route, you can: https://www.smartaviation.eu/en/best-modular-courses/0-modular-atpl-course/

I went there in October and the training was excellent. You do have to be proactive and schedule you're own flying with your instructor once they're assigned to you - if you have a preferred instructor, you can request them, but to be honest, they're all brilliant. If you want to get your training completed as quickly as possible, then Abdurrahman and Ahmed seem to work nearly every day! During my MEIR/CPL stage, I did 4 hours in the sim at 0600 and then flew in the afternoon - it can be intense, but it's manageable... I actually found it quite enjoyable doing CPL Nav in the afternoon after 4 hours of holds, approaches and IFR flying in the sim!

As for accommodation, they don't have any, but have some kind of deal with a guy who owns a student accommodation type place - individual rooms with a communal kitchen etc. However, I rented an apartment via AirBnB which was only 5-10 mins drive from the airport and didn't cost the earth.

[A802]

Have you checked EAS Barcelona?

No problem with flying and it goes pretty quick

[mavisbacon]

Try Egnatia in Greece.