Discover Airlines Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Discover Airlines, the Lufthansa Group’s leisure airline, flies Airbus A320s and A330s from Frankfurt and Munich, and was recruiting at the last check, on 11 November 2026: its career portal on career.aero listed First Officer vacancies on the A320 and the A330, both based in Frankfurt, Captain vacancies on both types, for Frankfurt and Munich, and an A320 Captain vacancy for type-rating instructors and examiners. The A320 First Officer vacancy takes an EASA ATPL, CPL or MPL “without operator obligation” with a multi-engine instrument rating and sets no hours minimum; the A330 First Officer vacancy asks for an ATPL or MPL and 2,500 hours on CS-25 aircraft above 20 tonnes; Captains need 2,500 (A320) or 5,000 (A330) hours as pilot in command on such aircraft. Every vacancy we read asks for a Class 1, English at ICAO Level 4 or higher, a German university-entrance qualification or its equivalent and an EU passport or one with no stricter entry restrictions, prefers German at B2 for non-native speakers, and prefers, rather than requires, a rating on its type.

Is Discover Airlines hiring pilots now?

Recruiting at the last check on 11 November 2026 — First Officer seat: Recruiting; Captain seat: Recruiting. Lufthansa Group leisure carrier: A320 and A330 First Officer and Captain vacancies on its career portal on 11 November 2026; A320 First Officers with an ATPL, CPL or MPL and no hours minimum; A330 First Officers from 2,500 h and Captains from 2,500 h (A320) or 5,000 h (A330) as PIC on CS-25 aircraft above 20 t; German preferred, at B2

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

We read Discover’s First Officer A320, First Officer A330 and Captain A330 vacancies in full on 11 November 2026, and its Captain A320 vacancy on 8 November 2026; the A320 Captain vacancy for type-rating instructors and examiners we saw only in the job list. Read each requirement with its vacancy in mind:

• Hours on CS-25 aircraft above 20 tonnes. The A320 First Officer vacancy sets no hours minimum. The A330 First Officer vacancy asks for at least 2,500 hours of flight time on CS-25 aircraft with a maximum takeoff mass above 20 tonnes, and the Captain vacancies for 2,500 (A320) or 5,000 (A330) hours as pilot in command on the same aircraft, so time on lighter aircraft does not count toward them. Discover’s cockpit page, as search results showed it on 30 October 2026, gave other figures, counted on aircraft above 5.7 tonnes; the vacancies’ figures are the ones to meet.
• The license. The A320 First Officer vacancy takes an EASA ATPL(A), CPL(A) or MPL(A) “without operator obligation”, the A330 First Officer vacancy an ATPL(A) or MPL(A) on the same terms, and both Captain vacancies an ATPL(A); each asks for a multi-engine instrument rating. The full ATPL needs 1,500 hours of flight time in airplanes, at least 500 of them in multi-pilot operations (FCL.510.A), and a CPL is accepted only for the A320 First Officer seat. The vacancies do not explain “without operator obligation”: if your license or training contract ties you to another airline, ask Discover before you apply.
• German preferred, not required. English at ICAO Level 4 or higher is required. German is preferred, at B2 or above for non-native speakers, proven by a recognized language center such as the Goethe-Institut.
• A German school qualification, or its equivalent. Every vacancy asks for a German university or technical-college entrance qualification (Hochschulreife, Fachhochschulreife or fachgebundene Hochschulreife) or an equivalent. If your school-leaving certificate is from outside Germany, ask Discover whether it counts as equivalent.
• Passport and standby. The vacancies ask for an EU passport, or a passport with no stricter entry restrictions than an EU one, and that you can reach your home base within 90 minutes on standby.

Entry routes

• First Officer A320 (Base FRA): an EASA ATPL, a CPL or a multi-crew pilot license “without operator obligation” with a multi-engine IR, no hours minimum, an A320 rating preferred (job 4384, read 11 November 2026)
• First Officer A330 (Base FRA): an EASA ATPL or a multi-crew pilot license “without operator obligation” with a multi-engine IR and at least 2,500 h on CS-25 aircraft above 20 t MTOW, an A330 rating preferred (job 4413, read 11 November 2026)
• Captain A320 and A330 (Frankfurt, Munich): at least 2,500 h (A320, job 4414, read 8 November 2026) or 5,000 h (A330, job 4415, read 11 November 2026) as PIC on CS-25 aircraft above 20 t MTOW; and an A320 Captain TRE/TRI vacancy at Frankfurt, seen in the job list on 11 November 2026
• Ab-initio: the European Flight Academy, the Lufthansa Group’s flight school, says its graduates have the best prospects of a cockpit job at one of the Group’s airlines, naming Discover among them, with hiring requirements that vary by airline (its career-entry page, read 11 November 2026)

Discover and the other German airlines

The other German airlines on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read each row with its date. Condor, which also flies the A320 family and the A330, listed four First Officer postings on 8 November 2026, on the A320 family with and without an A320 rating and on the A330; Lufthansa City Airlines, by its Captain FAQ, may recognize selection stages passed for Discover within the last 24 months; and at its last check, on 12 October 2026, the only way into Deutsche Lufthansa itself was the European Flight Academy, the Group’s flight school.

Selection process

The airline does not publish its selection stages in detail; expect an online application, screening against the published minimums, an interview and a simulator or aptitude assessment before the medical.

Bases and fleet

Bases: Frankfurt · Munich

Fleet: Airbus A320 and Airbus A330, the types of its pilot vacancies (career.aero, 11 November 2026) · 33 aircraft in all (Discover Airlines newsroom, 29 October 2026) · Airbus A350-900: the first to join in June 2027 and the second in December 2027, by current plans (the same release)

How to prepare

Discover flies the A320 and the A330, so the A320 bank is the core of the technical preparation for the narrow-body seats, and the A330 bank covers the wide-body’s limitations and systems. The two types share Airbus’s fly-by-wire philosophy, which the Library’s A320 flight control laws and protections explains, and for the technical interview the A320 interview set covers systems knowledge, standard procedures and operational scenarios. Every vacancy prefers a valid rating on its type rather than requiring it; read class and type ratings for what a rating course involves, and CS-25 large airplane certification for the aircraft whose hours count toward the A330 First Officer and Captain minimums. Discover selects pilots by its “Standard Pilot Selection Process”, which the vacancies do not describe, so prepare for the usual shape: the Library’s airline pilot recruitment and selection, competency-based pilot interviews and airline simulator assessment cover the stages most airlines use. German is preferred at B2 for non-native speakers, proven by a recognized language center such as the Goethe-Institut, so have a certificate ready to show, or book the test in time; and have your school-leaving certificate ready, since the vacancies ask for a German university-entrance qualification or its equivalent.

Discover has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s technical questions in airline pilot interviews; the Library’s command upgrade covers what a Captain applicant is assessed on. For the other German airlines, read Condor, Eurowings, Lufthansa City Airlines and Lufthansa Group pilot requirements, with pilot jobs in Germany and how to become an airline pilot in Germany. Check Discover’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Read directly on 11 November 2026: Discover’s job list on career.aero and its First Officer A320, First Officer A330 and Captain A330 vacancies (the Captain A320 vacancy on 8 November 2026). Confirm the vacancy is still open before you apply.
• The requirements of the A320 Captain vacancy for type-rating instructors and examiners, which we saw only in the job list
• What “without operator obligation” excludes for CPL and MPL holders, and who pays for the type rating of a pilot without one, with any bond: the vacancies do not say
• The starting pay: search results of 30 October 2026 showed EUR 5,400 a month for a First Officer and EUR 9,980 for a Commander from the German cockpit page, and an archived copy of the English page, without a capture date, gave EUR 5,000 and EUR 8,500, both with shift bonus and graded by hours flown; the vacancies name no figure
• Whether any of its A320s is an A320neo, and which A330 models it flies: the fleet list rests on earlier search results

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 Discover Airlines hiring pilots? Yes, at the last check, on 11 November 2026: Discover’s career portal on career.aero listed First Officer vacancies on the A320 and the A330, both based in Frankfurt, Captain vacancies on both types for Frankfurt and Munich, and an A320 Captain vacancy for type-rating instructors and examiners. Confirm that a vacancy is still open before you apply.

How many hours do you need to fly for Discover Airlines? The A320 First Officer vacancy sets no hours minimum. The A330 First Officer vacancy asks for at least 2,500 hours on CS-25 aircraft above 20 tonnes, and the Captain vacancies for at least 2,500 (A320) or 5,000 (A330) hours as pilot in command on the same aircraft (vacancies read on 8 and 11 November 2026).

Do you need to speak German to fly for Discover? German is preferred, not required, in every Discover pilot vacancy we read: at B2 or above for non-native speakers, proven by a recognized language center such as the Goethe-Institut. English at ICAO Level 4 or higher is required.

Does Discover Airlines require a type rating? No rating is stated as required: each vacancy we read prefers a valid rating on its type, the A320 or the A330, for First Officers and Captains alike. Who pays for the type rating of a pilot without one, and whether a training bond applies, the vacancies do not say, so ask before you accept an offer.

Where are Discover Airlines pilots based? Frankfurt and Munich. At the last check, on 11 November 2026, the First Officer vacancies were based in Frankfurt and the Captain vacancies in Frankfurt and Munich. Every vacancy we read asks that you can reach your home base within 90 minutes on standby.