Aircraft Maintenance and Repair in Turkey

Aircraft Maintenance and Repair is a four-year bachelor's, taught in Turkish at the universities listed here, that prepares you for work on airframes and engines and for the aircraft maintenance technician licence. In Türkiye that licence is the SHY-66 licence issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (SHGM); the degree provides the theory and practical base, while the licence also requires approved training, examinations and experience.

Published fees for international students are $3,250 a year at Nişantaşı and $3,500 a year at Gelişim (2025/26 list). Nişantaşı marks the programme as requiring an occupational health report, and employers at airports will later ask for a clean record for an airport access card.

The course is organised around the knowledge modules that licensing authorities expect: mathematics and physics, electrical and electronic fundamentals, materials and hardware, maintenance practices, aerodynamics, human factors, aviation legislation, and turbine and piston engines. You spend a large share of each week in workshops practising riveting, sheet-metal repair, torque procedures, wiring, inspections and technical documentation.

Internships at maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) organisations or airline technical departments are the most valuable part of the degree, because licence experience is counted in approved environments. Ask each university which approved maintenance organisations take its students and whether international students have been placed there.

Universities admit international students on school results or exam scores, but maintenance programmes add professional conditions. Nişantaşı's international brochure marks Aircraft Maintenance and Repair as requiring an occupational health report. Istinye's published criteria for its related Aircraft Technology associate degree show what such reports usually cover: colour vision, hearing and eyesight, plus no criminal record that would block an airport entry card.

• School documents: certificate and transcript (the 11-year certificate for Russian and CIS applicants) with translations; an equivalence document from the Ministry of National Education at registration.
• Turkish language: an accepted Turkish level or a Turkish preparatory year (Nişantaşı lists TÖMER at $1,800; Gelişim lists Turkish preparation at $1,750 for 2025/26).
• Technical English: maintenance manuals are in English, so plan to reach a working level during the degree.
• Health report: obtain it from a full hospital before paying the deposit, so a failed check does not cost you a year.

• Hangar and workshops: does the school have a training aircraft, engines and avionics benches you actually use every week?
• Approved training: ask whether the programme or a partner organisation is approved under SHY-147 rules, which can shorten the licence route.
• MRO partnerships: which maintenance organisations host interns, and how many foreign students were placed last year?
• Licence category focus: B1 (mechanical) and B2 (avionics) need different depth; check which one the curriculum targets.
• Location: campuses near Istanbul's airports make internships and part-time training easier to combine.

SHGM lists four licence categories: A (line maintenance mechanic), B1 (aircraft maintenance technician, mechanical), B2 (aircraft maintenance technician, avionics) and C (base maintenance engineer). Holders must also complete type training before they can certify work on a specific aircraft type. The licence rules follow the European Part-66 model, which helps if you later seek recognition in another country, but conversion is never automatic.

Graduates work as maintenance technicians, planners, technical records and quality staff for airlines, MROs, business-aviation operators and component shops. International graduates often return home with the degree and experience and complete licensing under their own civil aviation authority.

Nişantaşı's brochure is dated October 2025 and does not print an academic year; Gelişim's latest list covers 2025/26 and gives a 7% reduction for paying the year in advance. Confirm both amounts in your offer letter.

Beyond tuition, budget for work clothing and safety shoes, the health report, the Turkish preparatory year if needed, housing, health insurance and the residence permit. Type-rating courses after graduation are paid separately, usually by the employer.

A personal strategy, requirement checks, selection of agreed options, document preparation, applications, and support are provided under an agreement with StudyU. For aircraft maintenance we can check the health-report conditions and the language route for your intake and compile the Turkish document set. The university decides admission and scholarships, Türkiye's Ministry of National Education decides school-certificate equivalence, the consulate decides the visa, the migration authority issues the residence permit, and the dormitory or landlord confirms housing.