Aviation  is a fast growing  industry in the transport sector not only in Kenya but across Africa. To maintain a sustainable growth of the sector, it is important to look at crucial factors that affect the development of the next generation of aviation professionals (NGAP) as outlined by ICAO initiative (NGAP 2009)

Currently in Kenya, pilot training has experienced very low intake and graduation rates.It is estimated that only 100 Pilots are issued with Commercial licences annually.  This has been caused by several factors but the most significant being  the exponential high cost of training, a burden that has been solely on the students, parents or sponsors. There are no grants, loans or scholarships available to students pursuing pilot training. 

As at 1st  March 2022, The Association of Approved Training Organisations have recommended an increase in hourly cost of flight training and associated ground school courses, and this has made flying school less accessible to Kenyans looking to pursue pilot training. The new hourly rates stand at  210 USD from a previous of 16100 Ksh on the Cessna 152 and 17500 on the Cessna 172.  Ground school fees have been increased from 50,000 Ksh to 1200 USD for PPL ground school Course and 80,000 Ksh to 1800 USD for CPL ground school.  Nevertheless, there is no denying that there are high costs related to pilot training to the ATO, however we can come up with sustainable solutions to help eliviate these costs.

Therefore we are petitioning the member ATOs of the AATO-KE to lower the costs to become a pilot in  Kenya to the previous price point.  We are also petitioning Ministry of Transport, KCAA , ICAO and other key industry stakeholders to provide viable solutions towards the development of the next generation of aviation professionals inline with ICAO NGAP initiative of 2009.