Type rating

A type rating is an approval to fly a certain type of aircraft. Usually they are turbine propeller airplanes or jet engined planes. You need one to be able to fly the “bigger” planes the airlines use. They are also very expensive because usually there is actual flying involved. Can you imagine what it costs to do some training, like touch and goes, on a real Boeing 737 or an Airbus 320? And they are only the smaller airliners. Imagine the cost of something with 4 engines, like a 747 or an Airbus 340!