Flight Training In East Africa/Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda And The Rising Costs For Training And Tough Regulations

East Africa  has  Soroti in Uganda as one of the32,000/- whereas Kenyans will pay kshs 16,000/-.
latest and old pilot training schools followed by EastWhile we have these variations, Kenya Civil Aviation
Africa School of Aviation based in Kenya for ,AirAuthority is supposed to be reminded that ICAO
Controllers  course, Flight Dispatch and operationsregulations states that all aviation fees and charges
course, Engineering ,Management courses in aviation.must be the same for everybody, foreign or
Kenya has emerged as one of the fastest pilot trainingindigenous.
area with Wilson Airport leading with over 5 flyingThere are consultants who can organize for ground
schools and with the launching of Orly Airpark recentlyclasses for Engineers, Pilots for those who want to
which will mainly provide private aircraft parking andconvert their licenses before they sit for the exams
training to decongest the Wilson Airport.and it normally takes 4 weeks for South Africa &
For your pilot training course you are advised toAmerican trained students and for British 1month and 2
engage a consultant in aviation. There are manyweeks in class to be able to pass the exams.
schools in Kenya but some do not advice2. Uganda CAA Scuttles Student Training.
professionally but they are only after money and itThe Uganda Civil Aviation Authority has now instructed
might take you over 3 years to complete your flyingall the flying schools that no hours flown will be logged
hence need to engage a consultant who has thebefore having obtained the Student Pilots License. In
knowledge  and experience which school providesUganda the issuance of the Students Pilot License
quality, effective and efficient service. The consultanttakes weeks and month with the loss of applications,
will also assist you on a daily basis and engage thethe need for a separate "security" check and the
school on why they are not following the syllabus orobvious miscommunication and loss of documents
taking too long for a certain course and this will putpossibilities between CAA and security body.
them on their toes to improve in there area ofThe new Uganda Civil Aviation Regulations apparently
weakness. As a student is you complain there will berequire this and the CAA is now enforcing it and
bad blood even lead to suspension and thus affectingdisallowing any flight time done by students during their
you mentality which will ruin your career.interminable wait for the SPL.This means that before a
1. Examination Fees and Other Charges hiked byschool can start flying with a student, if he wants to log
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.that time, then there will be a delay of unknown
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority propose toduration while the application is processed. This
introduce a new "flight safety charge" of usd 2 perbasically kills off flight training in Uganda for all but the
passenger on internal flights and kshs 50 on domesticvery patient.
flights. Stakeholders have warned repeatedly that it isInstructors feel that it certainly takes away any
better to collect one ‘commuted' annual fee perattraction of a trial lesson in that the student can no
aircraft rather than a little fee for each service. Thelonger log this 30 minutes. And when all fired up and
annual fee for licenses are being virtually doubled, suchexcited from the trial lesson they will now have to wait
as, Students Pilot License will go up from kshs 500 toweeks or months to begin training .This will effectively
kshs 1, 000, a CPL from kshs 2,700 to kshs 4,500, andreduce the number of people wanting to start training.
a Type Rating from 900 to 2,000.Flight schools are now struggling for survival in Uganda,
Costs of sitting examinations are being tripled. In thedespite the fact that there is a good demand and the
PPL, Air law will increase from 500/- to 1,500/- ,airlines are crying out for new Ugandan pilots.
Navigation from 500/- to 1,500/- , etc. All CPL SubjectsThough costs are being hiked for pilot training, it is also
are proposed to go up from 1,100/- to 3,000/- each.based on the value of the earnings after completion of
Ethnic discrimination still remains a feature in conversionthe course. The highly paid pilot in general aviation first
of CPLs "foreigners" will pay kshs 16,000/- for writing officer kshs,120,000=00  and airlines pay  lowest
a conversion paper of their  foreign CPL, whilekshs 300,000=00 and thus no need of alarm when the
"Kenyans" pay only kshs 10,000/-.costs rises.
ATPL conversion exams will cost foreigners kshs