Amount of hours needed multiplied by the hourly training price. Done? Not so fast: there are some extras many students forget to budget for, but which can quietly add thousands to the total cost of your PPL.
2 April 2026
Landing and touch & go fees, also called circuit fees, add up. Especially since you’ll be doing hundreds of them during your PPL training. Another cost: club membership fee. Don’t forget to factor these charges into your budget.
During your PPL-training you’ll do landings and touch & go’s. A lot of them. Circuit-heavy training is repetitive, demanding, and very much necessary to build the confidence and skills needed to master takeoffs and landings.
An average number would be around 50 landings and 100 touch & go’s during the course of your PPL. And that’s only at the airport you’re training. You’ll also have to do some away landings, at a different airport.
At some flight schools, the landing and/or touch & go fees are already included in the costs of flight training or the club membership. There are also schools who offer reduced rates for their students, or packages which include a certain number of circuits; with additional ones charged extra. However, in other cases these fees are charged separately. Every single time the aircraft’s wheels touch the runway…
Landing and touch & go fees vary depending on the airport and the aircraft’s max weight. At some airports you’ll pay the same whether it’s a landing or a touch & go, others have different fees, and/or discounts for subsequent landings.
Some examples: at Solent Airport you’ll pay £15 per landing and £7.50 per circuit. At Cambridge City Airport, the landing fee is £37 and the touch & go £18.50. At Brighton City Airport (Shoreham), it’s £25.20 per landing and £13.20 per circuit.
More extravagant landing fees include those at Liverpool John Lennon Airport (£52.05) and London Biggin Hill Airport (£55 per landing). Seeing as you’ll easily do around 50 landings and 100 touch & go’s before obtaining your PPL, these fees can add thousands to the cost of your training.
Do realise that even if all landing fees are included at your chosen airfield, you’ll still have to land at a different airfield for your cross-country flying. These landings will very likely have a fee. The minimum requirement is two away landings. However, most students will perform around 10 away landings during their PPL training.
Because of rising fuel prices, some flight schools may add a separate fuel surcharge to their rates. This depends on the school and aircraft and is usually done per hour.
Since they depend on fluctuating fuel prices, fuel surcharges are subjected to change – make sure to check the most recent surcharge with your flight school. Instead of adding a fuel surcharge, some flight schools have just increased their hourly rates to make the numbers work.
Most flying schools require you to become a member to train there. A membership fee is usually charged per annum and varies greatly, ranging from £99 per year at Yorkshire Aero Club to £380 at Leicestershire Aero Club. Sometimes you pay per month, for example at Fenland Flying School where membership is £60 per month.
Most memberships include access to club facilities and insurance. Some flying clubs have cheaper aircraft rental or reduced training rates for their members. Sometimes membership gets you pilot equipment; at Freedom Aviation for example, membership includes a current UK Southern England chart.
So, you’ve made a budget for the entire flight training part of your PPL, including the landing and circuit fees. You’re ready to start training. But do realise that flying isn’t the only exam you’ll face…
