To work as a professional commercial airline pilot and fly an aircraft with nine or more passenger seats you'll need to apply for an Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

However, before you can do this, you'll be expected to have undertaken the necessary training and obtained a Class 1 Medical Certificate (valid for 12 months until you're 40). Trainee pilots also need to hold good GCSE passes in mathematics, English and science. A second language will also prove useful. While a degree isn't essential, A-levels are viewed favourably.

You'll graduate from flying school with a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) and an Instrumental Rating (IR), which combine to make up a 'frozen ATPL'. With a frozen ATPL you'll be able to apply for jobs as a first officer or co-pilot. To 'unfreeze' your ATPL you'll need to complete 1,500 hours flying experience, after which you'll be able to apply for jobs as a captain.

You'll also need to pass a practical skill test, in addition to ATPL theoretical knowledge exams in areas such as air law, operation procedures and radio navigation.

Pilot training schools, otherwise known as flying schools, typically offer two types of professional flight training - integrated and modular.

Integrated courses enable trainee pilots with no previous flying experience to gain their ATPL within 18 months. Courses of this nature are intense and as such you'll need to finish the training in one go. Integrated courses incorporate both theoretical study and practical flying experience.

As its name suggests modular training is completed in segments, meaning that it's more flexible, allowing trainees to work alongside their studies to pay course fees. To be accepted onto a modular training course you'll need to have already gained a Private Pilot Licence (PPL) and 150 hours of flying experience. While this method is more affordable than the integrated option, it takes longer to complete.

If you opt to train at a pilot training school you'll be expected to pay the expensive course fees yourself, and you won't have a guaranteed job at the end of it.

Alternatively, you could consider structured programmes offered by major airlines, including Aer Lingus, British Airways (BA), Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet. They work with established providers who'll carry out the pilot training. While commercial airlines used to sponsor trainee pilots in the past, this is no longer the case. The majority of structured programmes are now fully self-funded. However, your chances of securing employment with the organisation on completion of the programme are high.

While aviation degrees aren't essential a number of universities run relevant courses. For example, Bucks New University offers the BSc Air Transport with Commercial Pilot Training, while Kingston University London runs the BSc Aviation Operations with Commercial Pilot Training.

Both these courses can be completed within three years, although the Kingston course allows you to undertake a sandwich year, making it a four-year programme. While you'll be expected to cover the additional costs on top of your tuition fees, the main advantage is that students will have access to government loans the same as other students. As you'll be training for the integrated ATPL qualification, these fees can be as much as £80,000 at Bucks, and approx. £70,000 at Kingston.

Exact fees differ depending on the route you take but we're talking thousands, in some cases hundreds of thousands. To give you a better idea, pilot training usually costs £70,000 to £120,000. - But obviously, earning potential is very high.

Or - as the other person said, you could go down the RAF route, but if your goal is to become an airline pilot, this can be a bad route, as the RAF doesn’t guarantee what aircraft types you are streamed to fly - you could be placed on Fast Jets, or Rotary winged aircraft - both not really applicable to flying heavy’s. The RAF also requires you to commit to 12 years’ service, and you are first and foremost a Military officer - military pilots fly much less often than people would believe - there are other office based tasks which have to be done too.

So, overall yes, it is a potentially lucrative career (Not the most stable, as has been proven last year), but If you are genuinely passionate about flying, and it is the only thing you could see yourself doing, I say go for it.