What paragliding costs depends on how far you take it. A tandem flight is a one-off; flying on your own means a course, your own gear and a few costs every year. The prices below come from the websites of schools, shops and federations in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain and Brazil, checked in October 2026, and are given in each country's currency.
A tandem flight
A tandem flight with an instructor is how most people find out whether they like it. You need no experience: you run a few steps with the pilot behind you, and they do the flying. Most flights last 10 to 30 minutes. A longer flight, or one from a higher take-off, costs more; in the Alps the lift is often extra, and photos and video add 20 to 50 in the local currency.
| Typical price | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $195–275 | Point of the Mountain, Utah: $195–250. Torrey Pines, California: $200–275. Longer flights: $425 in Santa Barbara, $495 at Jackson Hole with the lift. |
| United Kingdom | £160–280 | Dorset: £160. Brecon Beacons: £199. Lake District: £250–280. |
| France | €85–180 | Annecy: €85–180. Puy de Dôme: €100–180. Chamonix: €148–170, plus €18.50–22.50 for the lift. |
| Switzerland | CHF 140–240 | Interlaken: CHF 190. Grindelwald First: CHF 220, plus the gondola. Zermatt: CHF 240, plus the lift. |
| Germany | €180–220 | Brauneck: €180–220. Tegelberg: €199, plus €21.50 for the cable car. |
| Austria | €140–190 | Zillertal: €140–190, plus about €28 for the lift. |
| Spain | €85–180 | Algodonales: €85–110. Àger: €85–100. Tenerife: €100–180. |
| Brazil | R$ 400–950 | Florianópolis: R$ 400–550. Serra da Moeda, Minas Gerais: R$ 550. Rio de Janeiro: R$ 850–950. |
Learning to fly
A course takes you from your first attempts at handling the wing on the ground to flying on your own, and ends with the first licence or rating of the national federation. Most schools lend you a wing and a harness for the course; some charge for them separately, and lifts, shuttles and federation fees are usually extra.
| Course | First licence | Minimum, and usual length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $1,900–3,800 | USHPA P2 | 35 flights over 7 days and 8 hours of ground school; 7 to 20 days |
| United Kingdom | £1,700–1,800 | BHPA Club Pilot | About 10 days of flyable weather |
| France | €1,450–1,600 | FFVL brevet initial | No minimum number of flights; two 5-day courses |
| Switzerland | CHF 2,500–3,300 | SHV brevet | 50 flights from 5 sites; a few months to a season |
| Germany | €2,050–2,600 | DHV A licence | 40 flights from 2 sites; two one-week courses |
| Austria | About €1,900 | Paragleiterschein | 40 flights; 10 to 14 days |
| Spain | €1,400–2,250 | Regional pilot title | 50 to 60 flights; 4 to 6 days per course level |
| Brazil | R$ 3,800–10,000 | CBVL IPPI 2 | 20 flights and 10 hours, or 30 flights and 5 hours; 2 to 12 months |
The differences come partly from what each licence asks for. The French brevet initial has no minimum number of flights, and Prévol, a school near Grenoble, sells a 12-day package to that level for €1,550. The Swiss and German licences ask for 40 to 50 flights from a mountain, which takes longer and adds lift tickets. In the US, schools charge less if you buy your gear from them: Torrey Pines asks $2,800 for its P1 and P2 course with a gear purchase, and $3,800 without.
Your own gear
A full kit is a wing, a harness, a reserve parachute, a helmet and a vario. Beginners fly EN-A or low EN-B wings, the most forgiving classes, and the wing is more than half the price: €2,800 to €4,300 new in Europe, $3,500 to $4,900 in the US, £2,700 to £3,000 in the UK and R$ 17,800 to R$ 19,000 in Brazil. In euros, a harness costs €540 to €1,330, a reserve €430 to €690, a helmet €80 to €245 and a vario €99 to €565.
| Full kit, new | Used | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $5,500–7,500 | From about $4,500 for a set |
| United Kingdom | £4,300–5,200 | Wings £600–1,700 |
| France | €3,700–5,300 | Wings around €1,900; a harness and reserve €840 |
| Switzerland | CHF 4,700 without helmet and vario | CHF 2,000–3,500 for a set |
| Germany | €4,400–7,350 | Wings €990–2,200, with a new check |
| Spain | €4,900–5,400 | – |
| Brazil | R$ 20,000–30,000 | About R$ 15,000 for a set |
Used gear costs about half to two thirds of the new price, and plenty of pilots start that way. Buy a wing only with a recent check report (porosity, line strength and trim), and make sure its weight range matches your weight with all your gear. Shops that sell used gear set limits worth copying: Cloud 9 in Utah takes nothing over five years old, and wants the wing checked within the last year and the reserve repacked within the last two. Thalia, a Swiss school, accepts a student's own wing if it is under five years old and was checked, with the reserve repacked, in the last 12 months.
What it costs every year
Every year you pay a federation membership, which includes liability insurance or requires it. The wing needs a check, which most manufacturers ask for every two years or 150 hours (US schools recommend one every year), and the reserve needs repacking every 4 to 12 months, depending on its manual.
| Federation and insurance | Wing check | Reserve repack | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | USHPA: $199, liability insurance included | $200–235 | $50–75 |
| United Kingdom | BHPA: £192, third-party insurance included; £35 to join | £125–210 | £65–70 |
| France | FFVL: €98 with liability insurance (2027) | About €180 | €60–80 |
| Switzerland | SHV: CHF 120, plus CHF 82.50 for liability insurance | CHF 270–380 | CHF 80–90 |
| Germany | DHV: €89, or €56 through a club, plus €39–70 for liability insurance | €199–209 | €49–66 |
| Spain | Regional licence with insurance: €189–267 | €150–200 | About €70 |
| Brazil | CBVL: R$ 80–100, plus a club and a state federation | – | – |
Lifts and site fees are the part that varies most. A one-way ride up costs €18.50 to €22.50 in Chamonix, €21.50 at the Tegelberg and CHF 22 in Verbier. Clubs that look after flying sites charge for it: $10 a day at Torrey Pines, £60 a year for the Southern Hang Gliding Club, R$ 50 a day for visiting pilots at São Conrado, Rio's landing beach.
Adding it up
With a course, a new kit and the first year's membership, this is roughly what it takes to fly on your own:
| First year, with new gear | |
|---|---|
| United States | $7,500–11,500 |
| United Kingdom | £6,200–7,200 |
| France | €5,300–7,000 |
| Switzerland | About CHF 8,000, according to Magiclift, a Swiss school |
| Germany | €6,600–10,100 |
| Spain | €6,500–7,900 |
| Brazil | R$ 24,000–40,000 |
Used gear takes a few thousand off those figures. After the first year, flying costs a few hundred a year in membership, checks and repacks, plus lifts and travel.
A logbook helps with two of these numbers: licences count flights, and wing checks fall due after a number of hours. Wingman records every flight on your iPhone or Apple Watch and keeps your totals of flights and hours.
Sources
- Torrey Pines Gliderport: P1 and P2 course
- USHPA membership levels
- BHPA fees
- FFVL licences (in French)
- Prévol courses (in French)
- Thalia Parapente: the cost of the brevet (in French)
- SHV/FSVL insurance
- DHV A licence (in German)
- Gleitschirm Direkt: complete sets (in German)
- FEADA licence prices 2026 (in Spanish)
- CBVL rules (February 2026, in Portuguese)
- Adrenar: paragliding course (in Portuguese)
