Training in Dubai?
 

Hello There!

First time on these forums, this looks like a very good place for new and existing pilots!

I am just wondering what oppurtunities are there for somebody wanting to become a commercial pilot in Dubai? I know there is a huge flight school in Dubai but also know that it may only be for UAE nationals! I currently hold a Pakistani and Canadian Citizenship, my father may move to Dubai to start a Medical Practise, can we gain UAE citizenship then?

Currently i am doing a Science program at my UNI here in Canada, and do not think it is the right thing for me. I have been fascinated with Airplanes and with piloting ever since i saw my uncle fly for Saudi air!!!

Awaiting ur advise!

Training in Dubai
 

I am not an expert, but been here for fifteen years. There are two or three flight schools here and you can enrol in them, regardless.
As per UAE Citizenship, to the best of my knowledge, only for UAE born Arabs. I know a Pakistani who was born here and cannot obtain it. Perhaps the UAE Embassy website can shed some light on the matter.
Good luck

Thanks for your advise, i know my father wanted to move to Dubai but my eudcation here was keeping him back, i knew Dubai was a pretty good place for pilots expats and nationals!

thank you again

You cannot gain citizenship which means you would just be doing flight training, not getting a job. The flight training is not up to much, that is why Emirates send their cadets to Australia. So if I were you I would go to a school in the States or heaven forbid Canada!

fLYING schoos in UAE
 

[quote=machbias]I am not an expert, but been here for fifteen years. There are two or three flight schools here and you can enrol in them, regardless.
hI there i am quite suprised that there are flying Schools in UAE .. could pls let me know which are the schools ,locations and among them which is the best one?Cheers

Is it true foreign students don't get employement in UAE even after training in one of their flight schools?? I was hoping to enroll in one of the UAE school, can anyone please confirm this?

What about other countries of the Gulf?

It is possible to get employment in the UAE after finishing your training, but also after leaving the UAE, gaining employment elsewhere and building hours before applying for a job.
The flying school does not do instructor ratings, and even after gaining one you need 1000 hours instruction given to get a job. There are not really any jobs for low hour pilots in the UAE. Even Falcon Express requires 500-700 TT 300 Multi and a 1900 rating. Thats the absolute minimum requirements. Thats the lowest hour job available in the UAE, and even then most of the F/Os are hired with plenty of B1900 experience from elsewhere.
Unless this JAR program kicks off in Fujairah, no point in doing pro pilot studies in the UAE as your license will be no use anywhere other than the GCC, even if it is ICAO. Go abroad, get a JAR of FAA license, get a job then start applying to the UAE companies. Prob your best bet of getting a job there.

Cheers DB :ok:

Thanx a lot for the info DB.

I ultimately want to settle in the middle east, so from where do you think should I train, FAA or JAA.... any particular school do you recommend that has the prestige that most Gulf countries look up to most. Any 'Harvard' of flying schools?

Regards.

I'd recommend FAA just because its much easier and laidback... From what I hear, JAA has quite a few written exams while there is only one 60 question multiple-choice written exam that needs to be taken for the FAA license.

I personally want to go for JAA because most countries have their own syllabi based on it. As I myself am an Asian I prefer settling in some place nearer to my country. But I just don't know which are the "best" schools, although I've heard such names as Cabair, is it the best school for JAA? What about InterCockpit?

In one line which school do the Gulf countries consider best (e.g. Cabair)?

The UAE GCAA allows ONE straight conversion of an ICAO license from another participating state. This means if you had an FAA CPL/ME/IR license you would get a training authorisation from the GCAA, sit the local air law examination and once the paperwork is done you will be handed a GCAA CPL. However you MUST be employed and sponsored by your airline before the initial authorization for license conversion is processed.

If you are a young/new pilot working in the sandbox on a CPL and you want to upgrade your license to ATPL, you MUST obtain your ATPL elsewhere and convert again to the GCAA. There is NO approved GCAA course for the ATPL. After obtaining your ATPL, you would be required to sit a GCAA ATPL written exam and I believe some company specific training and then the GCAA will give you a local ATPL. This is worth taking into consideration if you hold a JAR license as they are so anal about aircraft type flown when unfreezing your license. What a lot of guys do is once they hit the FAA ATPL requirements is get a US ATPL and convert on that. It should also be worth noting however, that in order to hold a UAE ATPL you must be 25 AND hold 1500 hours PIC! Thats a pain in the ass because all your SIC time only counts to 1 half PIC. Thats my understanding on the licensing, I think its pretty spot on, but feel free to correct me if Im wrong.

Back to the question on what license to proceed with, it totally depends on where you are from and where you have work elligability. If you are not a gulf national there is no way you are popping up in the sandbox with a brand new CPL and 250 hours to get a job. You must get a job at home or wherever for a few years before you have enough experience to start sending out CV's. And even then remember, a good portion of the pilots in the world also have their CVs in aswell. All in all and worldwide, the JAR license, if you have the patience is the way to go, but if you dont have work elligability in Europe it could be a waste of time. If you are Japanese get a Japanese license, whatever, as far as the UAE authorities go they dont really care!

Hope that helps

Cheers

DB :ok:

I can tell you really wanna stay near home. Great, but if you are gonna spend money for training spend it for something that will give you most.

JAA is great, but realize JAA also got lot of nonsense system associated with it. I'm an FAA flight instructor and I have people here come to me from Europe all the time cause they are sick of JAA's complexity. A lot of people reliaze that while they persue their private and after private they run to US.

In my opinion probably at the moment US is the best place to traing. Training with FAA is very fair. There is no bullcrap. Everything is strainign forward. Infact you can pretty much traing in a way that fits your need than having to follow some syllabus. From what I hear training here isn US is also the cheapest. JAA got like 14 something written test for some ratings. With FAA there is only 1 written test for each license. The only license that require two test is the Instructor's License.

I did all my training with FAA and my experience was very good. FAA training is very reasonable. I don't know how well other countries accept FAA licenses, but I heard convirting it to ICAO is easy. Convirting anything to JAA is a pain. Pretty much unless you plan to fly in Europe don't ever bother getting JAA.

So go whereever works out best for you, but I'll suggest forget Dubai and come to US for training. You wanna be in dubai when you got like 5,000 turbine time or something. Before than Dubai is no place for pilots. At the same time realize you will be in 100+ degrees of heat. Flying little airplanes in the deasert must suck.

Anyways wish you good luck with everything. I'll be gald to help out any body who have quesitons about training is US cause thats the only one I know best, so feel free to PM me with any question if you need help.

Flying schools in the UAE
 

sites of FBOs/flying schools in the UAE

www.fujairahaviationacademy.com
www.emiratesaviationservices.com
www.uaqaeroclub.com
www.horizonuae.ae

Goodluck:ok:
A6

Shariq, don't waste your money getting a CPL in Dubai. Get it in the States, or anywhere else really (although Europe is very expensive). The quality here isn't great, especially because there is poor exposure to different airfields etc.
If you're at University doing a degree and have not got too much left to go, also suggest you finish the course first before taking up flying. It might prove handy later on. Remember it's also possible to start flying and getting your ppl whilst you're still attending University.

A little good advice, unless you are a GEC national and only expect to be employed within the GEC don’t bother with either GEC training schools or local licenses as they are not worth a plug nickel in the real world.
If you have the cash go to the US and take the JAA/FAA combined course, if restricted by cash flow take the FAA CPL/IR course. Training towards qualification and getting a decent job flying is hard enough, with out sending hard earned cash down the toilet unnecessarily?

Outhouse.