What is a Paragliding Licence?
A paragliding licence is a document that declares your proficiency of paragliding skills. Just like a national driving licence, this document allows you to fly on sites that you haven’t flown before, so the site’s takeoff marshall or safety officer may understand how skilled you are.
Do I need a Paragliding Licence?
Paragliding in many countries around the world is an unregulated sport. So, you can legally fly without a licence, but of course, it is highly discouraged and not recommended. Not only do you put yourself at risk of death and injury, you also put other people around you at risk of death and injury – you’ll not be doing the sport any favours by making it more dangerous for everyone. Most insurances that cover extreme sports will also not pay anything if they know that you’re not a licenced pilot.
So, it is always better for yourself and for everyone in the sport to get yourself licenced before you take the leap.
Where do I get a licence?
You can get one in any paragliding school that offers licence services. But you have to remember that, just like any school, some schools are better than others. Paragliding Asia has a list of schools that can give you a licence, and you can even book your exam date or training on the website. If you have doubts about whether a school is reputable or not, feel free to contact us and we can give you advice* on the matter. Paragliding Asia interacts with many seasoned pilots and can give you a more focussed explanation so you can come to a decision. Paragliding is a sport where cheap is not necessarily the best.
* – Paragliding Asia and/or its owners, stakeholders shall not be responsible for any actions taken by you after or before reading or following any information or advice provided by any form of communication including this website. Read our terms and conditions for more.
I see so many types of licences being provided by searching on Google. Which one should I get?
Paragliding has various levels of proficiency. From Novice to Expert, each licencing method tries to set out the skills of a pilot in much the same way a driving licence does (e.g. you cannot drive a truck if you only have a licence for a car). Each school has its own method and structure of paragliding training. The syllabus followed amongst them are more or less the same, but they are still different.
FAI IPPI CARD
Paragliding Schools in many countries provide something called an IPPI card licence along with a national licence. These IPPI card licences are recognised by FAI – Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (What is FAI?) and by schools that follow the FAI structure of training. An IPPI card is exactly similar to the way an IDP (International Driving Permit) works. Your national driving licence may not be recognised by a different country, but a valid IDP along with your national driving licence will definitely be recognised by the other country. Similarly, a national paragliding licence will be recognised by another country only with the presence of an IPPI card.
In order to represent a country in paragliding in FAI events, one HAS to possess a national paragliding licence alone with an IPPI card as well as a sporting licence from the their country’s national air sports body.
APPI
This is an organisation specifically dedicated to paragliding. APPI licences also describe a person’s proficiency in paragliding. APPI has a very detailed training syllabus and is specifically structured toward this sport. One could say that APPI training methods are just as good, if not better than, schools that provide FAI IPPI licences.
However, while IPPI cards are recognised in every paragliding site, APPI cards are only recognised on sites that use the APPI structure. In Asia, many sites are not controlled by safety officers or launch marshals, so having an APPI licence doesn’t really affect your wish to fly – but as you progress in the sport and become an advanced pilot, you will wish to fly in the best sites in the world – and these ‘best’ sites are tightly controlled because they don’t want to have a bad reputation of pilots injuring themselves. In this case, IPPI cards are extremely useful. Also, APPI licences don’t allow you to participate in FAI competitions.