Types of Pilot Licenses: PPL vs CPL vs ATPL Explained (2026 Guide)

July 2026 · 6 min read · Sky Team Aviation Academy

Before you start flight training, it helps to understand how the types of pilot licenses fit together: what separates a Private Pilot License (PPL) from a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) and an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), and why you can’t start at the top. This guide explains each license, what it lets you do, the correct order to earn them, and which one you actually need for a flying career.

This guide covers manned civil pilot licenses (aeroplanes). It does not cover drone, UAV or remote-pilot certificates, which are a separate category with their own rules.

Pilot licenses are official certificates defining what you may fly and under what conditions. They are tiered because flying is learned through experience: you start with the fundamentals, add skills (night, instrument, multi-engine), then accumulate the hours and experience that qualify you to fly commercially and, eventually, to command airliners. Between the PPL and the CPL come the ratings: night, instrument (IR) and multi-engine (MER). These are add-ons that widen what you are allowed to do.

Every pilot’s starting point. It lets you fly for your own private purposes (not for pay). On the Sky Team programme it requires 8 theory subjects, 60 total flight hours (45 dual with an instructor + 15 solo), 8 written exams plus a practical flight test, and a Class 2 medical. It is open to applicants from age 17. See the Private Pilot License page for the full programme.

This is the license that lets you work as a pilot for pay. It builds on the PPL and ratings and needs more experience: 200 total flight hours (including at least 100 hours as pilot-in-command, 20 hours instrument, and 10 hours multi-engine), 8 written exams and a practical check, and a higher Class 1 medical. The minimum age is set by the civil aviation authority that issues your license, so confirm it when you apply. See the Commercial Pilot License page.

This is the highest license in civil aviation, and the qualification to work as an airline captain. It requires substantial experience: 1500 total flight hours to the ICAO standard (including pilot-in-command, night, and cross-country time), 6 written exams, and a Class 1 medical. It is completed as hours accumulate, subject to the minimum age set by the civil aviation authority. See the Airline Transport Pilot License page.

Timelines depend on how often you fly, but as a guide: a PPL takes about 6 months. The ratings that follow (night, instrument, multi-engine) add a few weeks each. Reaching a CPL, the license you need to fly for pay, takes roughly 12 to 18 months in total from your first lesson, because it includes every stage below it. The ATPL is then completed as you build experience toward its 1,500 flight hours, so it is measured by hours flown rather than by a fixed course length. The timeline for each license is on its course page, linked above.

If your goal is flying as a hobby, a PPL is enough. If you want to be paid to fly, your destination is the CPL, and as hours accumulate, you progress to the ATPL to fly as captain. You cannot jump straight to a CPL or ATPL; both build on the PPL and the ratings. Costs differ by the license you target, and the full breakdown is in our cost of becoming a pilot guide.

The PPL and night rating require a Class 2 medical, while everything from the instrument rating up to the CPL and ATPL requires the higher Class 1. Exact standards are set by the civil aviation authority and vary by license class, so confirm your own case with a designated aviation medical examiner (AME). See the eyesight rules and the full exam in our pilot medical exam guide.