Phase 1 · Philippines
Foundation in Philippine skies
- Class-C controlled airspace from hour one
- Stable tropical weather · consistent flying days
- ICAO-English ATC environment
- CAAP certification
- The environment that catches weak radio work.
Investment Tier 4 Flagship · Integrated Pipeline
From zero hours
International Airline Cadet Pilot Program
From zero hours
to airline-ready.
In eighteen months at Mactan-Cebu.
A structured, ICAO-aligned pathway to a professional pilot career. Live Class-C airport training from day one. A real employment pathway to Skyway Airlines for selected cadets — limited seats.
New intakes every month · Rolling applications
46yrs
Training Since 1980
0
Training Accidents
CAAP
Cert No. 84-11
Cadet Pipeline Partner
What makes a cadet program work is not the number of hours. It is the path between them. Eighteen months from your first walk-around to your first airline-ready checkride — structured so each stage earns the next, each license compounds, each flight builds the judgment that airlines will one day put fare-paying passengers behind.
— Continental Aero Flying School Est. 1980 · Mactan-Cebu · Philippines
The Eighteen-Month Path
Six phases.
One continuous path.
ICAO-aligned. CAAP-approved. Each phase feeds the next — no gaps, no re-learning, no cohort transfers between schools.
01
Foundation
Ground School
Month 1–3
ATPL theory core. Aerodynamics, navigation, meteorology, regulations. 750+ hours of academic instruction.
02
First License
Private Pilot
Month 3–6
PPL earned. Solo cross-country, radio work, night operations. First time in full command of an aircraft.
03
Commercial
Commercial Pilot
Month 6–11
CPL earned. Advanced maneuvers, complex aircraft, commercial standards. Flying to airline-grade precision.
04
Instrument
Instrument Rating
Month 11–14
IR earned. Flying by reference to instruments. IFR procedures, approach plates, ATC coordination in IMC.
05
Multi-Engine
ME Rating
Month 14–16
ME added. Transition to Baron 58. Engine-out procedures, asymmetric thrust, complex systems management.
06
Airline Prep
Frozen ATPL + MCC
Month 16–18
Frozen ATPL. Multi-Crew Cooperation. Airline orientation. Interview preparation. Ready for the right seat.
18mo
Total Duration
200+ hrs
Flight Time
750+ hrs
Ground School
5
Licenses Earned
What You Earn
Five licenses.
One cohesive credential stack.
Every license is CAAP-issued and ICAO-recognized. Convertible to EASA (Europe), FAA (USA), and CASA (Australia) pathways with bridge training.
PPL
PPL
Private Pilot License
Single-engine land. Command authority for private operations. First genuine license in your logbook.
CPL
CPL
Commercial Pilot License
Authorization to fly for compensation. The threshold license for any professional pilot career.
IR
IR
Instrument Rating
Fly in IMC. Shoot approaches in weather. Mandatory for any commercial airline role.
ME
ME
Multi-Engine Rating
Command of multi-engine aircraft. Required for airline transport operations. Trained on Baron 58.
ATPL
ATPL
Frozen ATPL
Airline Transport Pilot theory complete. Unfreezes to full ATPL after required hours with your employing airline.
Flight Time Composition
Where your 200 hours come from.
Hours are not interchangeable. Dual instruction builds judgment. Solo builds command. Simulator builds precision. Cross-country builds navigation fluency. The mix matters as much as the total.
100h
Dual Instruction
Alongside a CAAP-certified instructor. Every maneuver demonstrated, practiced, corrected. Your judgment is built here.
60h
Solo Flight
Pilot-in-command authority. No instructor on board. Cross-country and pattern solos. Command is built here.
30h
FNPT II Simulator
Full motion flight simulator. Emergency procedures, instrument approaches, scenarios you cannot safely practice in live aircraft.
10h
Night + Advanced
Night operations, advanced navigation, cross-border cross-country. The profile components that airlines explicitly require.
Two Cadet Tracks · Real Airline Seats
Real airline seats — earned, not just promised.
Most flight schools end at CPL. Continental Aero trains you for what comes next. Through our 2025 Memorandum of Understanding, we supply pilots to Skyway Airlines — a real airline-employment pathway. As one of Skyway's founding pilot partners, our strongest cadets enter the airline's earliest cohorts — a rare ground-floor start, where airline seniority builds from day one. Seats are limited and awarded by selection and performance. That's why we offer two honest ways in:
Skyway Airline Cadet — real employment, founding-cohort seats. Selected cadets are hired as first officers with Skyway Airlines under our MOU — a ground-floor entry with a founding-era carrier, where airline seniority builds from the very start. Subject to aptitude, in-training performance, medical fitness and the airline's own standards. Includes type-rating coordination and interview coaching by airline captains — seats are limited and competitive.
Integrated Cadet — full airline-ready training. The complete ab-initio pipeline — PPL → CPL → Instrument → Multi-Engine → ATPL theory to Frozen ATPL — with a structured pathway toward an airline career (subject to airline selection). Ideal if Skyway seats are full or you prefer flexibility — and you can still be considered for a Skyway seat.
100+
Daily Movements
at MCIA
at MCIA
Why training at a live international airport matters.
Every cadet flies alongside 100+ daily commercial movements at Mactan-Cebu — a Class-C airport under ATC radar control. By graduation, the airline environment is your home, not your adjustment.
Your Training Tools
Built for the modern cadet.
The platform your airline uses looks a lot like the one we train you on. Intentional.
Proprietary Digital Platform
Kryvox
Digital logbook, AI-assisted scheduling, real-time progress tracking, SMS dispatch. Every flight, every hour, every milestone — logged, reviewable, exportable to your airline employer on day one.
Digital Logbook
CAAP-compliant, exportable to airline onboarding
AI Scheduling
Intelligent weather + aircraft + instructor matching
IMSAFE Dispatch
Safety check enforced before every flight
Progress Dashboard
Every stage, every endorsement, instructor-visible
Training Fleet
Aircraft airlines recognize.
Train on the same general-aviation platforms that airline interview panels understand. Fleet maintained to CAAP airworthiness standards with Baron 58 running MT 4-blade composite props.
Cessna 172
Trainer
Cessna 210
Complex
Baron 58
Multi-Engine
Who Succeeds · How to Apply
Straightforward. Fast.
No gatekeeping.
Most applicants receive a decision within two weeks of submission. Selection is based on aptitude, commitment, and English proficiency — not connections.
Requirements
Age18 or older at program start
EducationHigh school diploma or equivalent
EnglishICAO Level 4 minimum · Level 5+ preferred
MedicalCAAP Class 1 Medical Certificate
Prior hoursNot required · ab initio welcome
Cohort sizeSmall cohorts · instructor ratio preserved
VisaNo student visa needed — 9(a) tourist entry + SSP filed by CAFS after arrival
Application Process
Step 01
Submit application
15 min online
Step 02
Aptitude + English assessment
Within 1 week
Step 03
Interview with Head of Training
Video or in-person
Step 04
Medical + documentation
CAAP Class 1
Step 05
Offer + enrollment
Cohort placement
The Cadet Pilot Pathway
Two phases. One home base.
One pilot the airlines compete for.
Cadet Pilot is structured in two phases — foundation, then advanced — all delivered from our home hangar at Mactan-Cebu under CAAP certification. You build your hours in live Class-C airspace and across 30+ aerodromes in the Philippine archipelago, so no two cross-countries are alike. Every license is CAAP-issued and ICAO-recognized — accepted across all 193 ICAO member states, convertible to FAA, EASA, and CASA with bridge training.
Phase 2 · Advanced
Advanced cross-country & instrument
- 30+ aerodromes · long archipelago cross-countries
- Changing coastal & island weather · rapid judgment
- IFR-rich airspace · multi-engine and instrument time
- CAAP certification · ICAO-recognized
- The environment that catches weak judgment.
An airline career isn't a weekend license. Cadet Pilot is built for students committed to the flight deck — full integrated hours, real ATC, and an airline-ready logbook from day one.
Quality isn't what gets cut when you price something well.
Another Path · Same Flight Deck
Not every pilot starts as a cadet.
Cadet selection is capacity-limited by airline seats — the self-paced route isn't. If this intake is full, if you prefer to build your licences at your own pace, or if you'd like to enter at the PPL stage first, our Professional Pilot Program (PPL + CPL + Instrument as one bundle) — or individual modular licences at your own pace (Multi-Engine, Instructor, and more) — train to the same CAAP standards, on the same fleet, with the same instructors. You can apply for the Cadet track again on any future intake, and every hour you fly counts toward your total.
See the Professional Pilot Program
Try a Discovery Flight first
Not sure which path fits? Start with a Discovery Flight — one hour at the controls tells you more than any brochure.
Frequently Asked
The questions we get most.
18–24 months full-time from zero to Frozen ATPL. Most cohorts finish within 18–22 months; the extra window absorbs weather, medical scheduling, and individual checkride pacing. The program is cohort-based, not self-paced — steady progression is part of the design.
Yes. The program is ab initio — designed for students with zero flight hours. No prior aviation background is required or expected. Existing pilots seeking CPL/IR/ME upgrades should look at our Training Pathways modular tracks instead.
Yes — and here's good news: no student visa is needed. Flight training in the Philippines runs on the 9(a) tourist visa; after you arrive, CAFS files your Special Study Permit (SSP) with the Bureau of Immigration. We also arrange airport pickup, orientation, and pre-vetted housing options in Cebu (average $400-600/month). Applicants from 14 countries have enrolled in the past five years.
Placement depends on each graduate's individual performance, hour accumulation, and interview outcomes — so we don't publish a single headline figure. What we do publish: our Skyway Airlines MOU provides a direct cadet-to-first-officer pipeline for qualifying graduates, and alumni are actively flying for Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines, AirAsia Philippines, Korean Air, and Emirates.
All licenses are CAAP-issued and ICAO-recognized, which means they are accepted in all 193 ICAO member states. Conversion to specific national licenses (EASA for Europe, FAA for the USA, CASA for Australia) requires bridge training — which we can advise on during your program.
We open new intakes every month, so you won't wait for a fixed start date. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis — earlier applications receive earlier interview slots and earlier consideration for the limited Skyway cadet seats.
New Intakes Every Month
Your airline seat begins here.
Apply for our next cohort — or start smaller with a Discovery Flight to feel what real airline-track training looks like.