The Kerala government's own academy, with a published entrance examination, a published reservation policy, and a fee sheet whose five instalments add up exactly.
Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology is owned by the Government of Kerala, began life as a flying club in 1959, and runs the most formal admission process of any school in this directory. A published notification opens the intake, selection is by a written examination at an allotted centre plus an interview, and seats are reserved for candidates from scheduled and other listed categories.
The fee sheet is equally structured. It prices the ground class, the registration, the administration, the library, the insurance, the pilot kit, the simulator and every flying hour separately, adds a refundable security deposit, and then sets out five instalments tied to flying hour counts that sum exactly to the printed total. A commitment amount is non refundable but is adjusted against the last instalment.
There are two published totals and they buy different courses. The headline is a course flown entirely on single engine aircraft. Adding the multi engine endorsement replaces fifteen of those hours with twin hours and raises the total, and that second figure is in the table below with its own label. If you are comparing this academy against a private one, compare the multi engine figure.
The academy also publishes a notice warning students that it is the only such organisation under the Government of Kerala and has no tie-up with any private ground school in the state, which tells you something about what is being sold in its name elsewhere.
The regulator prints approval 01/2017 against this organisation, records its ownership as State Govt, and gives the approval as valid to 22 March 2029.
Consistent as far as the site goes. The DGCA list gives 4 single engine and 1 multi engine, types Cessna 172R and Piper Seneca PA34. The site names no fleet page, but the fee sheet confirms the multi engine type as the Piper Seneca PA 34, which matches. No aircraft counts are claimed by the school.
| What | Our source records |
|---|---|
| Registered name | Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology |
| Bases | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala |
| Aircraft | 4 single engine and 1 multi engine aircraft on the regulator's list, being Cessna 172R, Piper Seneca PA34 |
| Courses | Commercial Pilot License (IR/ME), Foreign License Conversion, Instrument Rating, Multi Engine Rating. The CPL notification describes the course as leading to a CPL with Instrument Rating, likely duration 3 years, with multi engine endorsement on the Piper Seneca PA 34 as an option. |
| Figures checked | 8 September 2026 |
DGCA ranking, 1 April 2026 edition: Category C, printed at serial 25. It was Category B in the 30 September 2025 edition, so this is a move in the regulator's own letters between the two.
The regulator publishes a letter and a serial number and no score at all, so there is nothing behind the letter to inspect and nothing here to rank schools against each other by. The bands the letters come from, and how many organisations sit in each on this edition, are set out on the flying schools in India index.
| What you pay for | Amount | What the figure is |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial pilot licence course, the school's own published total | ₹45,75,000Published | As the source prints it: Total fee for single engine aircraft training (200hrs.) : 45,75,000/- |
| Total fee including multi engine endorsement, 185 hours single engine plus 15 hours multi engine | ₹51,95,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Application fee, general category | ₹5,500Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Application fee, SC / ST / OEC candidates | ₹3,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Single engine flying, per hour | ₹18,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Multi engine flying for own trainees, per hour | ₹56,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Multi engine flying for an external trainee, per hour, described as proposed | ₹65,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Commitment fee, non refundable but adjusted in the final instalment | ₹1,50,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
| Security deposit, refundable | ₹1,00,000Published | Charged separately from the course total. |
7 of the figures above: read from the academy's own commercial licence fee structure PDF for the 2026 intake, checked 8 September 2026. 2 of the figures above: read from the academy's own commercial licence fee structure PDF for the 2026 intake, checked 8 September 2026.
| How far to trust it | What the source says |
|---|---|
| Published, and inside the figure | Ground class Rs 3,50,000; registration Rs 10,000; administration Rs 20,000; library Rs 40,000; insurance Rs 1,00,000; pilot kit including text books Rs 3,00,000; single engine simulator Rs 25,000 (10 hours at Rs 2,500); other charges Rs 30,000; a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,00,000; and 200 hours of single engine flying at Rs 18,000 per hour. |
| Published, and inside the figure | The Rs 1,50,000 commitment fee is non refundable but is adjusted against the last instalment. |
| Published, and inside the figure | Payable in five instalments: Rs 15,75,000 at joining, then Rs 8,10,000 each at 25, 70 and 115 flying hours, then Rs 5,70,000 at 160 hours. |
| Published, and outside the figure | The multi engine endorsement. |
| Published, and outside the figure | Doing 15 hours of multi engine on the Piper Seneca PA 34 at Rs 56,000 per hour, with 185 hours on single engine instead of 200, brings the total to Rs 51,95,000, including a multi engine simulator fee of Rs 50,000 (10 hours at Rs 5,000). |
| Published, and outside the figure | The Rs 5,500 application fee is separate. The fee sheet does not mention DGCA examination, medical or licence charges. |
Fully stated, and the most formal route in this batch. A published notification opens the CPL intake. Selection is a written test at an allotted centre plus an interview, or the interview alone if applications are few. Written test syllabus: General English, Maths, Physics, Geography, Reasoning and General Aviation, objective questions only. SC and ST cut off is 5 percent below the last general category candidate. Eligibility: 12th standard with 50 percent marks and 55 percent aggregate in Maths, Physics and English for general candidates, 45 percent and 50 percent aggregate for SC, ST and OBC. Minimum age 17 completed on 1 April 2026. Class II medical to join, Class I to be submitted later, plus a psychoactive substance test at joining. Seats are reserved for SC, ST and OEC applicants. Applications are downloaded from the site and posted with a demand draft. Last date 15 July 2026; batch starts tentatively October or November 2026. The 2026 cycle is visibly running: the Pilot Aptitude Test was held 16 August 2026, the answer key was published, and the interview shortlist was published on 2 September 2026.
None. The only address is Trivandrum International Airport, Chackai ITI Jn., Beach P.O, Thiruvananthapuram 695007, matching the regulator. The academy publishes a notice that it is 'the only flying training organization (FTO) under the Government of Kerala' and 'has no tie-up or affiliation with any private ground schools in Kerala', warning students against claims of association.
The fee sheet does not mention the regulator's examination, medical or licence charges, so those sit outside it with no amount stated.
The academy publishes no accommodation rate, so living costs at Thiruvananthapuram are entirely uncosted here.
Nothing above is the whole cost of becoming a pilot. Our pilot training cost in India page has the full stack from the medicals to the type rating, and CPL course fees in India puts this school's licence figure next to the rest of the market.
Through a published notification and a written examination at an allotted centre, followed by an interview, or by the interview alone if applications are few. The examination covers English, mathematics, physics, geography, reasoning and general aviation, and the paper is entirely objective.
The lower one buys a course flown entirely on single engine aircraft. The higher one replaces fifteen of those hours with twin hours and gives you the multi engine endorsement. Both are in the table on this page with their labels, and the higher one is the fair comparison against most private academies.
Yes. The notification publishes reserved seats for scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other listed candidates, a lower application fee for them, and a cut-off set a fixed margin below the last general category candidate.