Any EPTSpain Flight School for PPL(A) Reviews/Experiences?
Joined: May 2024
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
From: Jersey
Hi Ian, I sent an email with some specific questions about doing a PPL with you but just received a generic response detailing all of the information you have available on your website. I appreciate you must be busy with enquiries, if somebody could respond directly to the email though I'd really appreciate it. I'll PM you now with my email address so you can look up my enquiry. Thanks.
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Santa Maria
Straighten Up Are you still the Head of Training flyEPTSpain …. ?
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 187
Likes: 0
From: MALLORCA
Indeed I am. You can send an email to [email protected] and I'll try and reply as soon as possible.
Joined: Feb 2025
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: Locarno
Indeed I am. You can send an email to [email protected] and I'll try and reply as soon as possible.
Joined: Feb 2025
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: Locarno
Currently enrolling with flyeptspain, sound very promising and well reviewed. If you contact them it takes a while to get an answer, but they do reply at some point, without abusing copy and paste as some other ATOs
Joined: Aug 2022
Posts: 21
Likes: 1
From: THE GRID
4-5 months if you’re also working on the side… 4-5 week is absolutely attainable! There is far less content to learn than the ATPL and with only a 45 hour requirement, and the good weather in spain, 4-5 weeks is a good estimate. I have seen people do it in three. If you had the money and access to a 1:1 instructor I reckon you could do it in two weeks.
Joined: Dec 2005
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 4,975
Likes: 327
From: Hong Kong
4-5 months if you’re also working on the side… 4-5 week is absolutely attainable! There is far less content to learn than the ATPL and with only a 45 hour requirement, and the good weather in spain, 4-5 weeks is a good estimate. I have seen people do it in three. If you had the money and access to a 1:1 instructor I reckon you could do it in two weeks.
Joined: Jun 2025
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: Switzerland
I will share here my subjective experience with FlyEPT Spain (Mallorca) as well as my impressions of the island, since I lived there while doing the training.
I did PPL(A) and 95 hours PIC hour-building with FlyEPT Spain. Started mid-October 2024 and got my PPL(A) mid-January. Some students got it faster, others took more time. Reason for 3 months was they accommodated me when I needed to go back home for 2 weeks (twice), and also at the time there was only 1 plane, so maintenance was required quite often and weather issues also affected the schedule. I also did 95 hours PIC and that was much more fun than the PPL(A): just book your slot and go flying. I was able to do France-Switzerland-Spain as well as South of Spain (Almeria-Sevilla-Malaga) and really learned a lot from it (especially evolving around bigger airports). I feel very grateful for the Hour-Building and the freedom given by the school.
Looking back at it, I am happy I did this part of my training there. Most of my impression is positive but I had some challenging times too.
I paid 8000€ total for my PPL(A) because I rented 5 hours of PA28 instead of Tecnam P2002 (PA28 was more expensive). Familiarization with another plane is a great experience too, but better do it during your hour-building, I would argue. You can expect to pay 7500€ for PPL(A) (as of mid-2025) if you manage to stay within your 45 hours of training. Make sure you read well the blue book that they recommend and work on the syllabus exercises in advance (try to get a link to the informal student shared drive we created (not an official EPT resource), there are tips from former students and downloadable resources there). Talk to senior students, and ask the questions you need to ask to your instructors.
Overall, if you decide on EPT in Mallorca, I would suggest you come with your car and find yourself a 6-month lease, and do PPL + 100 hours PIC (you would most likely have to go back to your country to do your national radio exam; check this with chatgpt and double-check with your authority). You are in definitive a slave to the weather and availability of aircraft so better be very much available yourself; opportunities will not adapt to you. Flying there every now and then will reveal to be expensive and an annoying operational procedure. There is a train station very close to Son Bonet Aerodrome, which is however a huge plus (2€ one way to Palma intermodal). EPT will be flexible with you and accommodate your schedules if you cannot be out of your country for too long.
English exam (aviation house) and Medical 2 (Tecsalud), you can do it in Mallorca. Same with Medical 1 (CMA Quiron prevencion) and ATPL exams (aviation house as well), should you decide to go for online ATPL theory right after your PPL(A). The advantage of keeping FlyEPT with ATPL theory (with CATS online) is that EPT handles your documents very quickly.
What I found the most annoying was actually the social context (Mallorcans, hordes of German and English tourists, yacht vibe, food poisoning from Lidl 2-3 times and the bad driving) however the EPT student network is great (be sure to be added to the unofficial watsapp groupchat to network, debrief and exchange ideas there).
Here's my NON-EXHAUSTIVE and SUBJECTIVE list of pros and cons for the school and the area around it:
PROS:
- Price!
- Just step inside the plane and build your skills and hours (after mandatory checks of course)
- Flexible scheduling
- Some instructors have a lot of experience (former/current airline pilots,...), and you could get linked to seaplane/pilatus/cheap cpl options
- They answer very fast and provide official documentation and refunds in a very swift fashion
- Friendly aviator spirit around Son Bonet (other schools and helicopters)
- Landing fees in Son Bonet (which students have to pay after each flight) are very cheap too, usually 2-3€ (goes up to 6€ if you are hour-building, although sometimes they would invoice you less)
- Fast examiner booking availability (EPT will accommodate you regarding your national specificities and examiner requirements)
- Tecnam P2002: easy to fly and sporty feel. Good for a gradual and non-complex assimilation of skills and in-flight systems monitoring
- Rotax engine: a decent and reliable entry model for the price. It's a great little engine to start with, regarding understanding systems and parameters
- There is a maintenance organisation just in front of the Apron and the planes are regularly well maintained
- They let you take the plane out of base, and with approval out if the island for a few days, even internationally (think Sardinia, Corsica, Venezia, Pyrénées, South of France, Costa del Sol, and even Switzerland if you are lucky!!!)
- They will be there to assist you if you have an issue, irrespective of the time or place.
- They also work pretty hard to keep things cheap and make sure everyone can fly
- The booking system lets you choose your slots and they respect it most of the time
- They are growing and getting better constantly (I arrived end 2024, they had only 1 plane and now mid-2025 they have 3)
- They allow students to participate to their growth: I was proposed to ferry one of their new planes from France to Spain and they accepted that I do a tour via Switzerland, one of my most spectacular flights so far. Of course I still paid wet lease however it was only effective flight time on this occasion
- They allow passengers for your hour-building flights
- They don't require so many administrative and operative clearances to go cross-country solo for hour-builders
- I paid 130/hr for hour building but now (2025) the price is 140/hr I think
- They are mostly straightforward with the pricing and will not play you or do curve-ball tricks; although it is best to always have a talk with them before doing your calculations (for VAT-related matters or regarding different rates if interested in flying different planes; don't rely on the website so much)
- Just call the refuel trucks and they come quickly
- No need for much administrative or operational time-consuming efforts like PPR or handling: you basically book your slot (or the instructor does it for you if doing your PPL), prepare your NAVLOG, do your weight and balance, check NOTAMS and Weather (have these print-screened in case of ramp-check), get your flight accepted via ICARO app, call Palma Operations to open/close flight plan and off you go. Some other places require more annoying little things, which basically kills the aviator in you (in my honest opinion)
- Not so much traffic and ground movement is simple (as compared to Velez Malaga for example, which requires to cross the runway and a lot of communications and waiting at the holding point)
- Since you don't wait so much at the holding point, your money goes into your training
- There is an austro control exam centre (Aviation house) land-side
- Scenery: a lot of unbeaten, coastal gems between East of Mallorca, Ibiza and East of Menorca; also, there is mountain as well as flat and coastal terrain, which is a fair mix of various conditions, all close by. The somewhat 1000AGL limit within the Palma TMA can serve you when there's mist or haze, for sharpening your pilotage skills and getting your marks from the ground.
CONS:
- Instructors not thoroughly onboarded, coordinated and briefed in my opinion. You end up paying for it.
- Big disparity between instructor levels, which causes confusion sometimes
- A lot of turnaround with students and instructors as well, which makes you feel improperly treated at times
- They could do better on their procedures and student follow-up
- Sometimes, some instruments are not working but in order to get through your schedule, you still go flying; so you don't get the most out of the fleet and instruments (nothing illegal though)
- Apart from when you have an unexpected issue (where they will definitely not let you down), there is very little coaching and mentoring (I had only 2 post-flight briefings during my PPL, which were really good but didn't seem to be part of the culture of the school). It's mostly based on instructor willingness. You can't get a Lambo for the price of a twingo...
- The website is a collection of various things but basically, there's 3 p2002 (as of mid-2025) and it is a DTO for PPL and hour-building, simply but solidly. Unless I didn't see the rest
- Forget about night rating and this 75€ per hour dry lease thing
- Housing in Mallorca is scarce; your best bet is a long-term lease or a hostel (BOC in Palma city for example), unless you are lucky. Everything else is over-priced and if you visit a shared flat via facebook marketplace for example, make sure to check your affinity and habits with your room mates.
- Public transport is what it is; personally I came with my car (ferry from Toulon or Barcelona) and spent much less time commuting; you can park wherever you want land-side of Son Bonet; make sure though if you take your car, not to stay in the city; roads are very narrow and people drive really badly (many cars have bumps and cracks). Make sure you park correctly as well; I got a 200€ fine for being parked badly
- No real food options around Son Bonet aerodrome, unless you have delivered (Glovo), which will be unhealthy
- There are a few helicopters around and sometimes they could make you standby, either on the ground or in the circuit
- The night rating is very rare and difficult to get; don't go there for the night rating because Son Bonet does not accommodate night flying
- For longer flight requirements like 300NM, one fair option would be Ibiza-Castellon; which is not bad however the water in-between gives poor alternate choices and tough calls whenever conditions are marginal
- Mallorca will not be all beaches and bikinis, you may be bored whenever the weather or maintenance ground aircraft. Make sure you have stuff going on, and plan Bs. Locals are friendly but somewhat boring, and happy to keep it like that. If you are Mallorcan and reading this, don't, take it personally. And chances are you will not be interested in joining the hordes of Germans and English teaming up to get wasted in Magaluf and S'Arenal.
Finally, all of this is my personal opinion. Some may have had completely different experiences, so in definitive, just trust your instinct and don't give up when it gets hard; remember why you are doing it, remember it is your dream coming true and that flyEPT is helping you achieve that goal.
Good luck everyone and safe landings always!
I did PPL(A) and 95 hours PIC hour-building with FlyEPT Spain. Started mid-October 2024 and got my PPL(A) mid-January. Some students got it faster, others took more time. Reason for 3 months was they accommodated me when I needed to go back home for 2 weeks (twice), and also at the time there was only 1 plane, so maintenance was required quite often and weather issues also affected the schedule. I also did 95 hours PIC and that was much more fun than the PPL(A): just book your slot and go flying. I was able to do France-Switzerland-Spain as well as South of Spain (Almeria-Sevilla-Malaga) and really learned a lot from it (especially evolving around bigger airports). I feel very grateful for the Hour-Building and the freedom given by the school.
Looking back at it, I am happy I did this part of my training there. Most of my impression is positive but I had some challenging times too.
I paid 8000€ total for my PPL(A) because I rented 5 hours of PA28 instead of Tecnam P2002 (PA28 was more expensive). Familiarization with another plane is a great experience too, but better do it during your hour-building, I would argue. You can expect to pay 7500€ for PPL(A) (as of mid-2025) if you manage to stay within your 45 hours of training. Make sure you read well the blue book that they recommend and work on the syllabus exercises in advance (try to get a link to the informal student shared drive we created (not an official EPT resource), there are tips from former students and downloadable resources there). Talk to senior students, and ask the questions you need to ask to your instructors.
Overall, if you decide on EPT in Mallorca, I would suggest you come with your car and find yourself a 6-month lease, and do PPL + 100 hours PIC (you would most likely have to go back to your country to do your national radio exam; check this with chatgpt and double-check with your authority). You are in definitive a slave to the weather and availability of aircraft so better be very much available yourself; opportunities will not adapt to you. Flying there every now and then will reveal to be expensive and an annoying operational procedure. There is a train station very close to Son Bonet Aerodrome, which is however a huge plus (2€ one way to Palma intermodal). EPT will be flexible with you and accommodate your schedules if you cannot be out of your country for too long.
English exam (aviation house) and Medical 2 (Tecsalud), you can do it in Mallorca. Same with Medical 1 (CMA Quiron prevencion) and ATPL exams (aviation house as well), should you decide to go for online ATPL theory right after your PPL(A). The advantage of keeping FlyEPT with ATPL theory (with CATS online) is that EPT handles your documents very quickly.
What I found the most annoying was actually the social context (Mallorcans, hordes of German and English tourists, yacht vibe, food poisoning from Lidl 2-3 times and the bad driving) however the EPT student network is great (be sure to be added to the unofficial watsapp groupchat to network, debrief and exchange ideas there).
Here's my NON-EXHAUSTIVE and SUBJECTIVE list of pros and cons for the school and the area around it:
PROS:
- Price!
- Just step inside the plane and build your skills and hours (after mandatory checks of course)
- Flexible scheduling
- Some instructors have a lot of experience (former/current airline pilots,...), and you could get linked to seaplane/pilatus/cheap cpl options
- They answer very fast and provide official documentation and refunds in a very swift fashion
- Friendly aviator spirit around Son Bonet (other schools and helicopters)
- Landing fees in Son Bonet (which students have to pay after each flight) are very cheap too, usually 2-3€ (goes up to 6€ if you are hour-building, although sometimes they would invoice you less)
- Fast examiner booking availability (EPT will accommodate you regarding your national specificities and examiner requirements)
- Tecnam P2002: easy to fly and sporty feel. Good for a gradual and non-complex assimilation of skills and in-flight systems monitoring
- Rotax engine: a decent and reliable entry model for the price. It's a great little engine to start with, regarding understanding systems and parameters
- There is a maintenance organisation just in front of the Apron and the planes are regularly well maintained
- They let you take the plane out of base, and with approval out if the island for a few days, even internationally (think Sardinia, Corsica, Venezia, Pyrénées, South of France, Costa del Sol, and even Switzerland if you are lucky!!!)
- They will be there to assist you if you have an issue, irrespective of the time or place.
- They also work pretty hard to keep things cheap and make sure everyone can fly
- The booking system lets you choose your slots and they respect it most of the time
- They are growing and getting better constantly (I arrived end 2024, they had only 1 plane and now mid-2025 they have 3)
- They allow students to participate to their growth: I was proposed to ferry one of their new planes from France to Spain and they accepted that I do a tour via Switzerland, one of my most spectacular flights so far. Of course I still paid wet lease however it was only effective flight time on this occasion
- They allow passengers for your hour-building flights
- They don't require so many administrative and operative clearances to go cross-country solo for hour-builders
- I paid 130/hr for hour building but now (2025) the price is 140/hr I think
- They are mostly straightforward with the pricing and will not play you or do curve-ball tricks; although it is best to always have a talk with them before doing your calculations (for VAT-related matters or regarding different rates if interested in flying different planes; don't rely on the website so much)
- Just call the refuel trucks and they come quickly
- No need for much administrative or operational time-consuming efforts like PPR or handling: you basically book your slot (or the instructor does it for you if doing your PPL), prepare your NAVLOG, do your weight and balance, check NOTAMS and Weather (have these print-screened in case of ramp-check), get your flight accepted via ICARO app, call Palma Operations to open/close flight plan and off you go. Some other places require more annoying little things, which basically kills the aviator in you (in my honest opinion)
- Not so much traffic and ground movement is simple (as compared to Velez Malaga for example, which requires to cross the runway and a lot of communications and waiting at the holding point)
- Since you don't wait so much at the holding point, your money goes into your training
- There is an austro control exam centre (Aviation house) land-side
- Scenery: a lot of unbeaten, coastal gems between East of Mallorca, Ibiza and East of Menorca; also, there is mountain as well as flat and coastal terrain, which is a fair mix of various conditions, all close by. The somewhat 1000AGL limit within the Palma TMA can serve you when there's mist or haze, for sharpening your pilotage skills and getting your marks from the ground.
CONS:
- Instructors not thoroughly onboarded, coordinated and briefed in my opinion. You end up paying for it.
- Big disparity between instructor levels, which causes confusion sometimes
- A lot of turnaround with students and instructors as well, which makes you feel improperly treated at times
- They could do better on their procedures and student follow-up
- Sometimes, some instruments are not working but in order to get through your schedule, you still go flying; so you don't get the most out of the fleet and instruments (nothing illegal though)
- Apart from when you have an unexpected issue (where they will definitely not let you down), there is very little coaching and mentoring (I had only 2 post-flight briefings during my PPL, which were really good but didn't seem to be part of the culture of the school). It's mostly based on instructor willingness. You can't get a Lambo for the price of a twingo...
- The website is a collection of various things but basically, there's 3 p2002 (as of mid-2025) and it is a DTO for PPL and hour-building, simply but solidly. Unless I didn't see the rest
- Forget about night rating and this 75€ per hour dry lease thing
- Housing in Mallorca is scarce; your best bet is a long-term lease or a hostel (BOC in Palma city for example), unless you are lucky. Everything else is over-priced and if you visit a shared flat via facebook marketplace for example, make sure to check your affinity and habits with your room mates.
- Public transport is what it is; personally I came with my car (ferry from Toulon or Barcelona) and spent much less time commuting; you can park wherever you want land-side of Son Bonet; make sure though if you take your car, not to stay in the city; roads are very narrow and people drive really badly (many cars have bumps and cracks). Make sure you park correctly as well; I got a 200€ fine for being parked badly
- No real food options around Son Bonet aerodrome, unless you have delivered (Glovo), which will be unhealthy
- There are a few helicopters around and sometimes they could make you standby, either on the ground or in the circuit
- The night rating is very rare and difficult to get; don't go there for the night rating because Son Bonet does not accommodate night flying
- For longer flight requirements like 300NM, one fair option would be Ibiza-Castellon; which is not bad however the water in-between gives poor alternate choices and tough calls whenever conditions are marginal
- Mallorca will not be all beaches and bikinis, you may be bored whenever the weather or maintenance ground aircraft. Make sure you have stuff going on, and plan Bs. Locals are friendly but somewhat boring, and happy to keep it like that. If you are Mallorcan and reading this, don't, take it personally. And chances are you will not be interested in joining the hordes of Germans and English teaming up to get wasted in Magaluf and S'Arenal.
Finally, all of this is my personal opinion. Some may have had completely different experiences, so in definitive, just trust your instinct and don't give up when it gets hard; remember why you are doing it, remember it is your dream coming true and that flyEPT is helping you achieve that goal.
Good luck everyone and safe landings always!
