🏛️SACAA Declared Training Organisation

✅SAHPA Approved School

📅20+ Years Airtime

🎓Grade B & C Instructor

📐BSc Engineering

SACAA 0034 DTO · Cape Town

Learn to Fly Solo
in Cape Town

Beginner paragliding courses that take you from complete novice to flying solo. SACAA Declared Training Organisation. SAHPA certified instruction.

You’ll fly solo before you finish your first course. That is the goal — not a scenic tandem ride, but real pilot skills.

Start Beginner Course Ask Ria on WhatsApp

2,000+ paragliding flightsXC + vol biv across 6 countriesInternational competition pilot

Your instructor

Trained by an engineer
who flies for a living

Ria Moothilal founded Air School Paragliding after two decades in the air — starting with skydiving in 2004 and progressing through BASE jumping to paragliding, the discipline he has pursued furthest. Big XC in the Western Cape and Himalayas, vol biv crossings, international competitions in China, Réunion, and South Africa, and XC flights in Brazil, Switzerland, and France. The things new pilots describe as distant goals.

With a BSc in Engineering and a background in data science, Ria brings a rigorous, analytical approach to instruction. You will understand why you do what you do, not just how — and you will learn from someone who has navigated the full progression from first solo to the kind of flying most pilots only read about.

Air School Paragliding is a SACAA Declared Training Organisation — South Africa's formal civilian aviation training accreditation, administered by the same authority that oversees commercial flight schools.

Grade B & C InstructorSACAA DTOSAHPA CertifiedBSc EngineeringCompetition PilotWeather Forecasting Expert

Full instructor profile

Why Air School Paragliding

Aviation training,
not adventure tourism

You fly solo on your first course
The goal of every beginner course is your first unassisted solo flight. Not a scenic tandem joyride — real pilot skills from day one.
SACAA DTO certification
Air School Paragliding holds a Declared Training Organisation certificate from the South African Civil Aviation Authority — a formal accreditation requiring documented training programmes, qualified instructors, and ongoing SACAA compliance.
Weather knowledge built into every lesson
Cape Town's conditions are technically complex. You will learn to read the sky, not just react to it. This is a core part of every training pathway.
An instructor who has been where you want to go
XC in the Himalayas and French Alps, vol biv crossings, international competition. Paragliding carries real risk — the goal is to understand it, progress at the right pace, and build the judgment to extend your range over time. That advice means more from someone who has navigated that progression personally.

Training options

Choose your starting point

Every pathway leads to the same destination: a pilot who can read the weather, launch safely, and make good decisions in the air.

Beginner Course

Complete novice → first solo flight

R12,500

All gear included · 3 sessions

No experience needed
Gear hire, site fees, SAHPA registration
Up to 3 tandem training flights
Up to 7 supervised solo flights
Ground school and kiting practice
SAHPA Basic Licence pathway

Start Beginner Course

For licensed pilots

📈

Licensed Pilot Mentorship

Online mentorship for SAHPA Basic Licence holders

R250/month

Ongoing · cancel anytime

For pilots with SAHPA Basic Licence or IPPI 4
Primarily online — works anywhere in SA
Flight planning, track analysis, gear guidance
Build confidence to fly independently
Access to an instructor who flies XC and vol biv

View Licensed Programme

Try it first

🪂

Tandem Intro

Not sure yet? Experience it first

R2,200

With instructor · 1 flight

Fly with an experienced instructor
No experience needed
Experience the sensation of paragliding
Ask questions in the air
Most tandem students return to train

Book a Tandem

Your journey

Confidence-first, solo by session three

The sequence is deliberate. Every step is designed to remove fear, build familiarity, and prepare you mentally before you fly alone.

Tandem Training

You fly first. Three tandem flights with specific objectives — turns, approach, landing. You feel the controls from the air before you are ever asked to manage them alone. Includes a controlled collapse demonstration so the thing most beginners fear becomes a known quantity, not an imagined catastrophe.

Ground School

An introduction to takeoff procedure and kiting — not mastery, just familiarity. The harness simulator rehearses in-flight manoeuvres: turns, body position, big ears, speed bar. You prepare for what you will encounter in the air on solo day.

First Solo Flights

A full day at the Langebaan dunes. Ria handles gear preparation and assists with launch so you can focus on flying. Up to 7 solo flights — more if conditions allow. By this point the environment is not new. You have already been there.

SAHPA Basic Licence

The course is Phase 1 of 3. Phase 2 is an online theory exam. Phase 3 is additional supervised flights to meet the 35-flight minimum. The full pathway is yours to continue at your own pace.

A critical skill

Cape Town’s flying conditions
demand more than guesswork

The South Atlantic high, orographic lift off the Twelve Apostles, valley winds, sea breezes, and thermal development — Cape Town is not a forgiving environment for pilots who rely on group chats to assess the day.

At Air School Paragliding, meteorological understanding is built into every training pathway. You learn to read RASP, interpret soundings, and build your own pre-flight decision framework — not to copy what someone else decided.

RASP forecastingSounding interpretationThermal predictionSoarable topsSea breeze analysisSkySight & Windy

Explore the Weather guides

20+

Years in the air

Skydiving, BASE jumping, paragliding

2,000+

Paragliding flights

Cross-country, coastal, thermal

DTO

SACAA Declared Training Organisation

Highest SA civilian aviation certification

BSc

Engineering graduate

Cape Town

Ground handling

Ground handling / kiting training site.

Best in NE - SW · 4 km from Cape Town

See all flying sites

Student outcomes

What students say

“Ria's expertise in weather forecasting and safety-first approach completely changed my perspective. I highly recommend AirSchool for anyone looking to learn paragliding!”

Edward Bowora

Beginner course to solo licence graduate

“Cannot recommend AirSchool enough! Ria's knowledgeable, attentive, and had me flying on day 2 — my friends were so impressed!”

Jordan Bohinc

Beginner course

“The last flight over the dunes with a view of the ocean… It was simply amazing! Thanks, Ria!”

Daan Wenger

Beginner course

Not ready to commit yet?

Start with a tandem.
Then come back to fly yourself.

A tandem flight with Ria is the best way to experience paragliding before committing to training. You’ll fly side-by-side with an instructor, understand what the skill feels like, and answer your own questions about whether this is for you.

The majority of Air School Paragliding tandem students return to enrol in the beginner course. Experiencing it is different from imagining it.

See tandem options Skip to the beginner course

Ready to fly?

Your first solo flight is three sessions away. The beginner course is available year-round — gear, sites, and SAHPA registration all included.

Start Beginner Course — R12,500 WhatsApp Ria

Or call +27 78 095 8136

Learn to Fly Soloin Cape Town

Trained by an engineerwho flies for a living

Aviation training,not adventure tourism

Choose your starting point

Beginner Course

Licensed Pilot Mentorship

Tandem Intro

Confidence-first, solo by session three

Tandem Training

Ground School

First Solo Flights

SAHPA Basic Licence

Cape Town’s flying conditionsdemand more than guesswork

Cape Town’s best flying sites

Hermanus

Langebaan Dunes

Kardoesie

Piketberg

Porterville: Dasklip Pass

Porterville: Pampoenfontein

Signal Hill

Sir Lowrys Pass

Dolphin Beach

Glen Club

Gordons Bay Octopus Rd

Muizenberg Vlei

Noordhoek Pole Yard

Paarl Cricket Club

Paarl Sports Field

Sea Point Promenade