AFCAT 01/2027: 379 Vacancies in the Indian Air Force, Apply from 12 November

AFCAT 01/2027 has opened 379 vacancies for commissioned officers in the Indian Air Force, and applications open tomorrow, 12 November 2026. The vacancies cover the Flying Branch and the Ground Duty branches, both Technical and Non-Technical, with courses beginning in January 2028 at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. You apply online only, through afcat.edcil.co.in, and the form runs from 12 November at 11:00 AM to 11 December 2026 at 11:30 PM. The fee is Rs 550, with two exemptions. The one detail worth settling before you apply is which branch you are eligible for, because the age limits and the qualifications change with the branch.

At a glance	AFCAT 01/2027
Organisation	Indian Air Force
Notification	AFCAT 01/2027
Posts	379 vacancies (Flying + Ground Duty, Technical and Non-Technical)
Course begins	January 2028, at the Air Force Academy, Dundigal
Application dates	12 November 2026 (11:00 AM) to 11 December 2026 (11:30 PM)
Application route	Online only at afcat.edcil.co.in
Application fee	Rs 550; no fee for NCC Special Entry and GATE Score Entry
Age limit	Flying 20 to 24 years; Ground Duty 20 to 26 years, as on 1 January 2028
Qualification	Graduation, branch-wise — see below
Marital status	Unmarried at the commencement of the course
Selection	Online AFCAT exam, then AFSB interview and medical examination
Exam date	Not announced yet

Who can apply — Flying and Ground Duty

The Flying Branch takes candidates who have passed 10+2 with Physics and Mathematics, along with a degree or a BE or BTech. The age limit for the Flying Branch is 20 to 24 years as on 1 January 2028.

The Ground Duty branches are of two kinds. Ground Duty (Technical) needs an engineering degree, while Ground Duty (Non-Technical) needs a graduation degree. The age limit for Ground Duty is wider — 20 to 26 years as on 1 January 2028.

The qualifications and the eligible branches are set out branch by branch in the detailed notification, and the eligibility rules differ in detail between the technical and non-technical streams, so check the branch you are applying for against the detailed notification before you fill the form. Candidates must be unmarried at the commencement of the course.

The fee and the two exemptions

The application fee for AFCAT 01/2027 is Rs 550. It is paid online, through the application portal, at the time of applying.

Two categories do not pay the fee at all. Candidates applying through the NCC Special Entry are exempt, and so are candidates applying through the GATE Score Entry. If you are applying through either of these two routes, the portal will not ask for the fee.

What the job pays

The short notice does not name a salary figure for these posts. As commissioned officers, the selected candidates join at Level 10 of the pay matrix — Rs 56,100 as basic pay — along with the allowances that apply to Indian Air Force officers. This is the standard scale for a newly commissioned officer, not a figure given in the notice, so confirm the pay and allowances from the detailed notification.

How the selection works

Selection has three stages. The first is the online AFCAT exam. Candidates who clear it are called for the Air Force Selection Board interview, the AFSB, which is the second stage. The third and final stage is the medical examination.

Only candidates who clear each stage move to the next one, and the final selection depends on performance in the exam and the AFSB, followed by medical fitness.

How to apply

Apply only at afcat.edcil.co.in, between 12 November 2026 at 11:00 AM and 11 December 2026 at 11:30 PM. The application is online only, and there is no offline form.

Register on the portal with a valid mobile number and email ID, and keep them active, because all communication about the exam and the AFSB will come through them. Check the branch-wise eligibility in the detailed notification before you choose your branch, fill in your details carefully, upload the required documents, and pay the fee of Rs 550 online, unless you are exempt under the NCC Special Entry or GATE Score Entry. Submit the form before 11:30 PM on 11 December 2026 and keep a copy of the confirmation page.

Do not wait for the last day. The portal gets heavy traffic near the deadline, and a form left half filled at 11:30 PM on the last day will not be accepted.

What the short notice does not say

Only the short notice has been issued so far, and there are three things it does not tell you. First, the branch-wise split of the 379 vacancies has not been published — the short notice gives the total only, so the figure of 379 should be treated as the widely reported total, pending the detailed notification, which will give the break-up by branch.

Second, no exam date has been announced. Some websites have printed an estimate of late January or February 2027, but that is their own estimate, not an announcement, so do not plan around it.

Third, the last date is 11 December 2026 at 11:30 PM. A few sites print the time differently, and one site prints 16 December in an introductory line even though its own table says 11 December — the majority of the sources, and the short notice itself, agree on 11 December, and that is the date to go by.

Never pay anyone who promises to get you a seat. Genuine recruitment never charges a fee beyond what the notification itself names, and this notification names Rs 550, payable online only through the official portal. No one outside the Indian Air Force can offer you a place in this course.

If you are looking for a government opening with an earlier deadline, the RRB NTPC Undergraduate recruitment has 1,688 clerk posts, with applications open till 13 November — that one needs only 12th pass, so it suits a different set of candidates.

Sources: News18, "AFCAT 2027 notification released: Indian Air Force announces 379 vacancies, applications begin November 12", 2026; Himexam, "AFCAT 01/2027 Notification — Apply Online for 379 Flying and Ground Duty Posts", 2026; StudyBizz, "AFCAT 01/2027 Notification", 2026. NOTE: only the short notice has been issued so far, and the detailed notification was not available at the time of writing. The figures above were cross-checked across the three listed sources, which agree on the 379 vacancies, the two dates, the portal, the fee and the exemptions. The Indian Air Force has not published the branch-wise vacancy split or the exam date yet, so readers should confirm both from the detailed notification on the official portal. Apply only through afcat.edcil.co.in.