These are the average aircraft pilot salaries in Europe in 2025

The average aircraft pilot salary in Europe isn’t low, but there are a couple of things worth bearing in mind.

There are huge discrepancies, which in part explain why aviation tends to be an itinerant career.

There are also a few surprises.

Although, to be fair, most people can easily guess which country occupies the number one spot

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Being a pilot is like being a pro athlete

Working in aviation is a bit like working as a professional athlete.

Hear us out.

You start with smaller teams, but then you want to move to the big clubs.

The same principle applies to pilots.

Most start with low-cost carriers, but the goal is to eventually work for the biggest names in the business.

Obviously, that also depends on the license(s) they may hold.

Flying an Airbus A321neo is one thing, while flying the gigantic Airbus A380 is another.

In a way, the list reflects discrepancies between countries but also between airlines.

So the first thing that stands out is that perhaps Ryanair is paying higher salaries than people think, considering Ireland ranks pretty high on the list.

The average salary is €108,000 ($128,000)

Pilots with over eight years’ worth of experience can earn up to €132,000 ($156,000) per year.

Obviously not every single Ryanair pilot resides in Ireland or the UK (Ryanair’s second major hub is London Stansted), but it’s still potentially indicative.

The best and worst countries to fly a plane for a living

The average aircraft pilot salary is higher-than-average – but not everywhere.

The best country to be a pilot is Switzerland, followed by Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the UK, and France.

Then, outside of the top 10, we have Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, Czechia, and Romania.

Obviously, this doesn’t factor in taxes, which also play a huge part because some European countries have extremely hefty taxes.

The average aircraft pilot salary in Switzerland is €113,000 ($134,000), while the average in Romania is €32,000 ($38,000).

This is based on data from the Economic Research Institute, and it was then shared on a subreddit about aviation.

We mention that because one Reddit user in the comments made a very good point.

“80k in Italy is far better than 113 in Switzerland,” which is a fair point when we remember that Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe (and in the world) to live in.