Student Pilot Licences Surge in 2025: DGCA Data

Mumbai, Apr 2 (PTI) DGCA-approved flying training organisations (FTOs) have issued a total of 9,609 Student Pilot Licences (SPL) in the last five years, with 2025 seeing the highest number of SPLs at 2,364, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

At present, 41 Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)-approved FTOs are operating at 63 flying bases in the country, according to data shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, in Lok Sabha on Thursday in a response to a Member's question.

Prior to commencement of ab-initio flying training, each student enrolled in FTOs is issued SPL, the Minister said in a written reply.

The DGCA approved FTOs issued 1,173 SPLs in 2021, 1,675 in 2022 and 2,088 on 2023, as per data.

Similarly, in 2024, a total of 2,364 SPLs were issued by these FTOs and in 2025, the number of SPLs was 2,309, data show.


The number of CPLs issued by DGCA to cadets trained in foreign FTOs for FY 2025 is 615, Mohol said.

The Minister also said that the DGCA has implemented ranking framework for FTOs operating under its approval, effective from October 1 last year to enhance safety and training quality.

The FTOs falling under Category 'C' (FTOs scoring below 50 per cent) were issued notices along with scorecards and are required to submit improvement plans, which are reviewed by DGCA, he said.

Besides, the aviation safety regulator also conducts annual surveillance, safety audits, regulatory audits and spot checks of FTOs to ensure strict regulatory oversight, he said.

These organizations, according to the Minister, are also mandated to publish key operational and training details on their websites such as training fleets, airfield information, details of examiner and instructors, financial assistance rendered to students, fee details, among others.