Air Europa Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Air Europa, the Spanish airline based in Madrid, flies Boeing 737s on its short and medium-haul routes and Boeing 787s on its long-haul routes, and it recruits First Officers through calls on its own vacancies portal. At the last check, on 28 October 2026, the portal listed a call for First Officers at its Madrid base, published on 9 October 2026 and aimed at pilots who have just finished their training or are starting out, taking registrations until 31 October 2026. It asks for an EASA frozen ATPL with MCC, a Class 1 medical, ICAO English Level 4 and Spanish Level 6 and a DNI or NIE that lets you work in Spain, and names no hours minimum: a B737 type rating and flight experience are assets, not requirements. It offers a permanent contract from the start, and its tests, interview and simulator are expected between January and February 2027. An earlier call, for type-rated B737 First Officers with 500 hours on type, closed to registrations on 15 October 2026. Air Europa publishes no Captain call, and it has ordered 20 Airbus A350-900s, the first planned for 2028.

Is Air Europa hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 28 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Unconfirmed. First Officer call open until 31 October 2026: a frozen ATPL with MCC, Class 1, ICAO English 4 and Spanish 6 and the right to work in Spain, with the B737 rating an asset

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

The calls below were read on Air Europa’s vacancies portal on 28 October 2026. The rules cited were read in EASA’s and AESA’s own text, except where the Library is named.

• No hours, or 500 on the 737. The call open until 31 October 2026, published on 9 October and aimed at pilots who have just finished their training or are starting out, names no hours minimum among its requirements and counts previous flight experience and a B737 type rating as assets. The calls published on 20 March and 30 September 2026, both now closed, were for type-rated pilots: a B737 type rating with 500 hours on the 737, and, in the September call, availability to start from December 2026. Read the call you apply to.
• A frozen ATPL with MCC, at minimum. All three 2026 calls ask for an EASA Part-FCL ATPL(A) “frozen” with MCC, and the two autumn calls count a full ATPL as an asset. A frozen ATPL is a CPL with a multi-engine instrument rating and all the ATPL theory passed, but not yet the hours (as the Library sets it out); the full ATPL takes 1,500 hours of flight time in airplanes, 500 of them in multi-pilot operations, with an MPL or a CPL, a multi-engine instrument rating and MCC instruction as its prerequisites (FCL.510.A). The March 2026 call also asked for PBN/IR; the two autumn calls do not name it.
• Spanish at Level 6, English at Level 4. All three 2026 calls ask for ICAO English Level 4 or above and Spanish (castellano) at ICAO Level 6. Under EASA’s FCL.055, a pilot needs a language proficiency endorsement in English or in the language used for the flight’s radio communications, at Level 4 or above; Level 6, Expert, is the top of the scale and needs no further evaluation (as the Library sets it out). Spanish at Level 6 is Air Europa’s own requirement, above what the license asks.
• The right to work in Spain. A DNI or NIE that lets you work in Spain without restriction, a valid passport, which the type-rated calls want without restrictions, and no criminal record: there is no visa route in the calls. A Part-FCL license issued by any member state is valid throughout the EASA system (as the Library sets it out), and the calls ask only for an EASA Part-FCL license.
• The medical. A valid Class 1. In Spain, AESA, the national authority, says a medical certificate can be obtained or renewed only at an aero-medical center or with an aero-medical examiner authorized by the authority of an EASA member state, and that a pilot who transfers a license to another EASA authority asks AESA, on a signed form, to authorize the transfer of the medical file (AESA’s aviation medicine page, last modified 15 June 2026).
• The contract and the assets. All three 2026 calls offer a permanent contract from the start, at the Madrid base, with pay under the collective agreement in force. The two autumn calls value B737 MAX experience or training, a university degree, a full ATPL and membership of COPAC, Spain’s official college of commercial pilots; the March 2026 call required COPAC membership.

Entry routes

• First Officer, Madrid (“Copilotos Air Europa - Base Madrid”, published 9 October 2026) — frozen ATPL with MCC, no type rating or hours minimum required (the B737 rating and flight experience are assets), a permanent contract from the start; registrations until 31 October 2026, phases expected in January and February 2027
• Type-rated B737 First Officer, Madrid (“Copilotos Boeing 737 - Air Europa - Base Madrid”) — 500 h on the B737; published 30 September 2026, registrations until 15 October 2026, tests on 6 November and interview and simulator on 9–11 November 2026; marked closed at the last check
• Direct entry Captain — not published

Selection process

1. Online registration on Air Europa’s vacancies portal (until 31 October 2026 for the current call)
2. Phase 1 (expected in January 2027): ATPL(A) aeronautical knowledge tests, a skills assessment and personality questionnaires
3. Phase 2 (expected between January and February 2027): an interview in person and a simulator session, for those who pass Phase 1

Three calls in 2026, and Air Europa beside its peers

Air Europa’s vacancies portal carried three 2026 First Officer calls for its Madrid base, read on 28 October 2026:

Air Europa beside the Spanish airlines and Air France on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

At their own last checks, Iberia had no pilot call open, and its requirements ask for Spanish at level 5; Vueling had no pilot vacancy and only its talent pool open; Binter was recruiting non-rated E195-E2 First Officers with Spanish at level 5; and Air France took only EEA or Swiss nationals with fluent French. Air Europa asks for Spanish at Level 6, a level above the Spanish level 5 that Iberia and Binter’s E195-E2 call ask for. Read each row with its date.

Bases and fleet

Bases: Madrid

Fleet: Boeing 737-800 / MAX 8 (31 Boeing 737s in July 2026) · Boeing 787-8 / -9 (29 in July 2026) · Airbus A350-900 (on order: 20 firm, first deliveries planned for 2028)

The fleet, and the A350 order

Air Europa flies the Boeing 737 on its short and medium-haul routes, which it is renewing with the 737 MAX, and had 28 Boeing 787s on its long-haul routes, ten 787-8s and eighteen 787-9s, when it confirmed its Airbus A350 order at the FITUR fair in Madrid (Journal de l’Aviation, 27 January 2026). The order, signed on 23 December 2025, is for 20 A350-900s with options for 20 more (newsinamerica’s report of the FITUR ceremony). By July 2026 Air Europa’s fleet was 29 Boeing 787s and 31 Boeing 737s, and it planned its first A350-900s from 2028 (Forbes España, 9 July 2026). For the fleet, the B737 bank covers the 737, with its 737 NG to MAX quiz for the MAX, and the B787 bank the Dreamliner.

How to prepare

Air Europa sets out its selection in two phases, and each can be prepared. Phase 1 is a set of ATPL(A) aeronautical knowledge tests with a skills assessment and personality questionnaires: revise the ATPL theory banks first, the subjects of the frozen ATPL you already hold, and read the Library’s pilot aptitude tests for the kinds of skills and personality tests airlines use. Phase 2 is an interview in person and a simulator session: work the B737 interview set for the systems, procedures and scenarios and the CRM interview set for the crew resource management questions, and read the Library’s airline simulator assessment. Air Europa’s short and medium-haul fleet is the 737, so the B737 bank is your type preparation, with its 737 NG to MAX quiz and the Library’s 737 NG and MAX differences, since B737 MAX experience or training is an asset in both autumn 2026 calls; the B787 bank covers the long-haul fleet. Check the languages early: the calls ask for Spanish at ICAO Level 6 as well as English at Level 4, so if your Spanish endorsement is below Level 6, have it assessed before you apply. Do the paperwork first: your DNI or NIE, a valid passport and a criminal-record certificate.

Air Europa has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s competency-based pilot interviews and technical questions in airline interviews; its multi-crew cooperation courses explains the MCC every call asks for, and its commercial and airline transport pilot licenses the frozen ATPL. For the Spanish route as a whole, read how to become an airline pilot in Spain; the other Spanish airlines are on Iberia pilot requirements and Vueling pilot requirements, and the other 737 operators on Boeing 737 pilot jobs. Check Air Europa’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• The dates of the January–February 2027 phases, which Air Europa had not confirmed, and where Phase 1 is held
• Who pays for the B737 type rating of a First Officer hired without one, and whether a bond follows
• Whether Air Europa will open a direct-entry Captain call
• Pay: the 2026 calls refer to the collective agreement in force and give no figure

These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.

Common questions

Is Air Europa hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 28 October 2026: Air Europa’s vacancies portal listed a First Officer call for its Madrid base, “Copilotos Air Europa - Base Madrid”, taking registrations until 31 October 2026, with its phases expected between January and February 2027. An earlier call for type-rated B737 First Officers took registrations until 15 October 2026 and was marked closed. Check the portal before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for Air Europa? The call open until 31 October 2026 names no hours minimum among its requirements and counts previous flight experience as an asset, as Air Europa’s vacancies portal showed it on 28 October 2026. The type-rated calls published on 20 March and 30 September 2026 asked for 500 hours on the Boeing 737. All of them ask for at least a frozen ATPL with MCC.

Do you need a type rating to fly for Air Europa? Not for the call open until 31 October 2026, in which a B737 type rating is an asset; the type-rated call of 30 September 2026 required a B737 rating with 500 hours on type. Who pays for the rating of a First Officer hired without one, and whether a bond follows, is not in the calls, so ask Air Europa before you accept an offer.

Do you need to speak Spanish to fly for Air Europa? Yes. All three 2026 calls ask for Spanish (castellano) at ICAO Level 6, the top of the scale, as well as English at ICAO Level 4 or above. That is Air Europa’s own requirement: EASA’s rules ask for a language proficiency endorsement in English or in the language used for the flight’s radio communications, at Level 4 or above.

Can non-EU pilots apply to Air Europa? Air Europa’s 2026 calls ask for a DNI or NIE that lets you work in Spain without restriction, a valid passport and no criminal record, and name no visa route, so you need the right to work in Spain before you apply. They ask for an EASA Part-FCL frozen ATPL with MCC, and a Part-FCL license issued by any EASA member state is valid throughout the EASA system.