How to Become an Airline Pilot in Denmark: License, Cost and Airlines

Denmark licenses its airline pilots through Trafikstyrelsen, the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority, under the EASA rules every member state shares: a Class 1 medical first, then an integrated course, the modular route or an airline’s MPL, to a commercial license with an instrument rating and the ATPL exams passed, the “frozen ATPL” airlines hire on. A Danish school enters you for Trafikstyrelsen’s ATPL theory exams, which are held in English, and the two Danish schools whose prices we found asked EUR 105,000 at GreyBird Pilot Academy and DKK 827,000 at Center Air Pilot Academy for the integrated course in 2026, before the exam fees (GreyBird’s price page, read on 28 October 2026, and CAPA’s as search results showed it that day). The route every EASA state shares, hour by hour, is on our Europe page; this one is about what is Danish: Trafikstyrelsen, its medical rules and its exams, the schools and the airline routes through them, the airlines with Danish bases and the languages they ask, SU and the school loans, and the Royal Danish Air Force.

1. The Class 1 medical, under Trafikstyrelsen

The Class 1 medical is the certificate the commercial license, the MPL and the ATPL all need, so get it before you pay for any training. Your first Class 1 examination can be done only at an aero-medical center (AeMC) certified for Class 1, and a renewal or revalidation by an AeMC or by an aero-medical examiner (AME) with Class 1 privileges (EASA’s medical FAQ, which points to the national authority for the list; step 1 of the Europe page). Trafikstyrelsen approves Denmark’s AMEs and AeMCs (its fee regulation of December 2021 lists a charge for approving them), but we could not find its current list of Danish AeMCs in search results on 28 October 2026, so ask Trafikstyrelsen’s aeromedical section, or your school, which center does initial Class 1 examinations.

Trafikstyrelsen’s own medical page, last updated on 3 November 2023 and read on 28 October 2026, sets out what follows:

• Validity. A Class 1 certificate is valid for 12 months, reduced to 6 from the age of 60, or from 40 if you fly commercial passenger transport with one pilot (MED.A.045). A renewal examination taken within 45 days before the expiry date runs from that date; otherwise the new period runs from the examination.
• Unfit, and appeals. If an AME or an AeMC assesses you as unfit, you can appeal the decision to Trafikstyrelsen, and some cases go to Trafikstyrelsen for the final decision, typically when a Class 1 holder develops a condition such as cancer or a heart problem. The AME, the AeMC or the authority may ask for further examinations, or restrict the certificate.

A Class 1 issued in another EASA state is valid in Denmark (the Europe page). The medical certification article explains the classes and the examination.

2. Danish schools and the airline routes through them

The routes are EASA’s. An integrated course at an approved training organization (ATO) has at least 750 hours of theory and 195 hours of flight training, of which up to 55 may be instrument time in a ground trainer, and the modular route needs 150 hours of flight time, 50 of them in command of airplanes, before the commercial course’s flying starts (Part-FCL Appendix 3, paragraphs A and E); the MPL is run for an airline. Step 2 of the Europe page sets out each route. What is Danish:

• Trafikstyrelsen’s list of schools. Trafikstyrelsen publishes a list of the approved training organizations (ATOs) and declared training organizations (DTOs). Its list as of 1 September 2026, read on 28 October 2026, gives five ATOs approved for the integrated ATP(A) course: Billund Air Center, Center Air at Roskilde Airport (Center Air Pilot Academy, CAPA, which is also approved for the MPL), Copenhagen AirTaxi, Dansk Pilot Uddannelse and GreyBird Pilot Academy. The others on it are approved for other courses, from the private license to type ratings. Check a school’s approvals, and the courses they cover, on the current list before you sign.
• Two schools’ prices. GreyBird Pilot Academy asks EUR 105,000 for 2026, fixed from the first day and paid module by module, with all the teaching, the flight training, the landing fees and the instructors’ pay included, and puts about EUR 5,900 on top for the exam and test fees, paid to Trafikstyrelsen and the examiner (its price page, read on 28 October 2026); Center Air Pilot Academy (CAPA), at Roskilde, gave DKK 827,000 plus about DKK 20,000 in exam and authority fees, with the theory and its books, all the flying with a 5% buffer, a uniform, a headset and an iPad included (its price page, as search results showed it on 28 October 2026; older pages of its site gave DKK 795,000). The money and the funding are in step 7.
• Finnair’s MPL, the Finnish airline’s cadet route, is trained at Center Air Pilot Academy in Roskilde for its first 18 to 20 months, then in Finnair’s A320 simulator in Vantaa, about 22 months in all, to an MPL and an A320 type rating; the student pays EUR 60,000, both 2026 application windows had closed, and Finnair asks every pilot for fluent Finnish and English, so it is a route only for pilots who speak Finnish, as search results showed Finnair’s pages (checked 27 October 2026).
• Norwegian runs no cadet program of its own, but under an agreement of December 2024 it gets to know students at four independent partner schools, Center Air Pilot Academy among them, and may offer jobs to graduates it considers a fit; no place, sponsorship or job is promised, the training is bought from the school, and whether the arrangement is still active in 2026 is not confirmed on any Norwegian page (checked 21 September 2026).
• SAS lists a Cadet First Officer route, but its posting showed “this position has been filled” at the last check (checked 12 October 2026).

Before your first multi-pilot type rating you also need a multi-crew cooperation (MCC) course, on an integrated course at least 25 hours of theory and exercises (Appendix 3, paragraph A.7.1), and the upset prevention and recovery training of FCL.745.A. The MCC courses article explains them, and the cadet programs page compares who pays on each airline scheme.

3. The ATPL exams with Trafikstyrelsen, in English

The ATPL theory papers, the 75% pass mark and the time limits (every paper within 18 months, in no more than six sittings and four attempts at any one) are EASA’s (FCL.025), set out in step 3 of the Europe page and in our ATPL exams guide; once passed, the theory counts for 36 months toward the commercial license or instrument rating, and toward the ATPL for seven years from the last validity date of an instrument rating in your license. What is Danish is how you get to the exam, as Trafikstyrelsen’s entry forms showed it on 28 October 2026:

• Your school enters you. Trafikstyrelsen’s entry form for the ATPL(A) theory exams (“Indstilling ATPL (A)”, the 2020 edition) lists the 13 papers and says that registration can be made only through an approved flight school, whose chief ground instructor or head of training signs to put its students forward for Trafikstyrelsen’s theory exams under FCL.025, and that the exam is in English (“Prøven er på engelsk”); the form for the helicopter ATPL with instrument rating says the same. As in every EASA state, your school must recommend you before your first attempt (step 3 of the Europe page).
• Where, when and what it costs. We could not find Trafikstyrelsen’s 2026 dates or rooms for the ATPL papers, or its current fee for them, so ask your school. Two schools put a figure on the fees on top of the course price: GreyBird’s price page, read on 28 October 2026, about EUR 5,900 for the 13 theory exams, two radio tests and the commercial license and multi-engine instrument rating skill tests, aircraft rental for the skill tests included, paid to Trafikstyrelsen and the examiner; CAPA’s price page, as search results showed it that day, about DKK 20,000 for the fees of the exams and the authorities.
• English for the license. A pilot who uses the radio needs a language proficiency endorsement at ICAO Level 4 or above, in English or the language used on the radio (FCL.055, the Europe page). We found no Trafikstyrelsen page on how it assesses language proficiency, so ask your school who tests it. What the airlines ask of your English, and of a Scandinavian language, is in step 6.

4. From license to first job

You leave training with a frozen ATPL or an MPL, either of which can become a full ATPL once you have 1,500 hours in airplanes, 500 of them in multi-pilot operations and up to 100 of them in simulators, and pass the ATPL skill test (FCL.510.A and FCL.520.A, in EASA’s online rules, read on 24 October 2026; step 4 of the Europe page). Airlines hire long before that. Where the doors were at the last check:

• SAS’s Experienced First Officer route, at its Scandinavian bases on the A320 and the E195, needs no type rating but asks for 400 hours on CS-25 or FAR-25 aircraft, not 400 hours in total (checked 12 October 2026).
• SAS also advertised Direct Entry Captains on the A320 in Copenhagen, from 4,000 hours in total, and on the E195 at all its bases, rated or not (checked 12 October 2026).
• SAS pays its First Officers’ type rating, and its Direct Entry Captains get a fully funded rating with a three-year bond (checked 12 October 2026).
• SAS asks for the MCC course and an advanced upset prevention and recovery (UPRT) course, and runs its pre-employment checks in the city where you will be based (checked 12 October 2026).
• Norwegian’s last First Officer vacancies asked for 1,500 hours in total for non-type-rated pilots, or 800 for military pilots, and 500 hours on the 737 for rated pilots, and said an offer may come for any of its bases in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia or Spain (checked 21 September 2026); both of those vacancies closed on 31 August 2026 (checked 21 September 2026).
• Jettime, which our jobs board does not track, advertised for 737NG-rated First Officers at its Copenhagen and Helsinki bases with a deadline of 1 October 2026, asking for a Scandinavian language (a job board’s copy, on Jobbank, as search results showed it on 28 October 2026). Sunclass Airlines, a Danish airline also not on our board, recruited First Officers for its Stockholm Arlanda, Gothenburg and Helsinki bases, not Danish ones, in a posting on its own careers site whose last day was 15 August 2026, asking for 1,500 hours in total and at least one Nordic language (as search results showed it on 28 October 2026). Both are approved training organizations for type ratings on Trafikstyrelsen’s list, Jettime on the 737 and Sunclass on the A320 and the A330. Watch both airlines’ careers pages for the next round.

The low-hour pilot jobs page lists every airline on our board with a First or Second Officer entry at 500 hours or less, and the non-type-rated First Officer jobs page who trains you on type, in Denmark and beyond.

5. The airlines with Danish bases, and what they ask

The two airlines on our jobs board with a base in Denmark, each as it stood at the date in the last column; one of them had the First Officer seat open, recruiting or holding a pool. SAS, which our board lists under Sweden, Denmark and Norway, has Copenhagen among its bases; Norwegian, listed under Norway, names Denmark among its base countries but not the airports. SAS had five pilot vacancies open on 25 August 2026, among them Experienced First Officer at its Scandinavian bases and Direct Entry Captain on the A320 in Copenhagen, and its E195 Direct Entry Captain posting was still on its careers site on 12 October 2026 (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian’s two First Officer vacancies closed on 31 August 2026, and no newer pilot vacancy had appeared by 21 September 2026 (checked 21 September 2026). Other airlines, Jettime and Sunclass Airlines among them, are not on our board, so read their own careers pages (step 4). The SAS and Norwegian requirements pages set out each one’s terms line by line, and the SAS and Norwegian interview guides cover their selection.

6. Right to work, languages, license transfers and the Air Force

The right to work comes first. Both airlines with a Danish base on our jobs board ask for a right to work you must already hold, or say they sponsor no visa. SAS asks for an unrestricted right to live and work in the EU at its Scandinavian bases and offers no visa sponsorship in its ads (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian for the legal right to live and work in the EU/EEC region and an unrestricted passport (checked 21 September 2026). The visa sponsorship page lists the airlines that sponsor one, worldwide.

Languages. The license and Trafikstyrelsen’s exams need English, and SAS asks for ICAO English at Level 5 or 6; Norwegian for English at Level 5 or higher; neither names Danish. A Scandinavian or Nordic language can still be the filter: Jettime’s and Sunclass’s postings above asked for one, as search results showed them, and Finnair, whose MPL is trained at Roskilde, asks every pilot for fluent Finnish. If you are not a native speaker of Danish, Swedish or Norwegian, read each vacancy’s language line before you apply.

Which state issues your license matters. SAS accepts a license issued by an EASA state outside Scandinavia, but it must be converted before your course starts, and SAS publishes no preference for licenses issued by Denmark, Sweden or Norway (checked 12 October 2026); Norwegian accepts one too, but it must be converted to a Danish, Swedish or Norwegian license within 12 months of signing your contract (checked 21 September 2026). To move an EASA license to Denmark you apply to Trafikstyrelsen to change the competent authority, under FCL.015: its application form, on a page last updated on 30 April 2026 and read on 28 October 2026, asks for copies of your Part-FCL license and medical certificate and a separate application for the transfer of your medical, and Trafikstyrelsen invoices a fee. A license from another EASA state is valid in Denmark meanwhile (step 6 of the Europe page). A license from outside the EASA system is converted under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/723, through the authority of the state where you live or want to work (EASA’s licensing FAQ), which in Denmark is Trafikstyrelsen. Its form for holders of a third-country license (TS-CFL 01/25, read on 28 October 2026) sets out what it asks: for an ATPL, an initial Class 1 at an EASA AeMC, a language proficiency assessment with an EASA-approved assessor, all 13 ATPL theory exams with an EASA authority and a combined ATPL and type rating skill test within the 6 months before you apply; for a commercial license, a full CPL/ATPL theory course at an EASA ATO with all its exams, the exercises of an approved CPL course and a CPL skill test. A UK license has counted as a third-country license since 1 January 2021 (EASA’s Brexit FAQ, step 6 of the Europe page); the same form accepts, until 31 December 2027 and without new exams, the ATPL theory certificates of a UK ATPL holder who also held an EASA airplane license with a valid instrument rating on 31 December 2020. FAA vs EASA covers the FAA conversion in both directions.

The military route runs through the Royal Danish Air Force, Flyvevåbnet. Its career catalog of 2024, read on 28 October 2026, gives a pilot’s post as an officer’s, open to Danish citizens with an upper-secondary education (gymnasial uddannelse) who pass the admission test, with up to 36 months of training, depending on the aircraft type, before you fly as an operational pilot, on fighters, helicopters or transport aircraft, at Karup, Skrydstrup or Aalborg, and a service obligation of 12 years; that edition’s application deadline, 1 November 2024, has passed. The Danish armed forces’ academy, Forsvarsakademiet, issued in December 2025 the study regulations of a new, temporary pilot officer program that applies from 1 February 2026 (read on 28 October 2026): 200 ECTS over 44 to 71 months, holidays included, mainly at Svanemøllen Kaserne and at training units abroad, for applicants with an upper-secondary exam including Danish at level A, English at level B and mathematics at level C who pass the admission test, are judged suited to officer training and can be security-cleared. Read the current terms on Forsvaret’s careers site before you plan around them. Military flying is credited toward a Part-FCL license under Article 10 of the Aircrew Regulation, on a credit report by the authority of the state where the pilot served (EASA’s licensing FAQ); Norwegian’s last non-rated vacancy took military pilots from 800 hours in total, against 1,500 for others (checked 21 September 2026).

7. Money and time

Funding in Denmark. The student pays for the integrated course, and SU, the state education support, recognizes it: GreyBird’s price page, read on 28 October 2026, says its integrated course is approved under the SU scheme and that, because the training is self-paid, Danish students receive a special supplement on top of the ordinary SU rate and can also take SU loans. CAPA’s pages, as search results showed them on 28 October 2026, say its course qualifies for the higher SU (“forhøjet SU”) for the same reason, and offer its own loan, CAPA Kredit, against a down payment of your own (DKK 150,000 or 200,000 on different pages of its site). The rates are on su.dk: check what applies to your course and year before you count on it.

Ask every school what its price includes: the theory and flying phases, the MCC or airline pilot standards MCC, the upset training course, Trafikstyrelsen’s exam and license fees, the Class 1, accommodation and the type rating, and what happens to the money you have paid if you, or the school, stop. On a cadet route, ask too who pays, what you owe if you leave or fail, and on what terms a job follows.

Common questions

How long does it take to become an airline pilot in Denmark? As long as your school’s course, plus the airline selection: the ATPL theory alone must be passed within 18 months, counted from the end of the month of your first attempt (FCL.025), and Danish schools set their own course lengths; Finnair’s MPL, trained at Center Air in Roskilde, takes about 22 months. The frozen license can become a full ATPL once you have 1,500 hours, 500 of them multi-pilot, and pass the ATPL skill test (FCL.510.A and FCL.520.A), and airlines hire before that.

How much does pilot training cost in Denmark? For the integrated course in 2026, GreyBird Pilot Academy asks EUR 105,000, with about EUR 5,900 more in exam and test fees (its price page, read on 28 October 2026), and Center Air Pilot Academy gave DKK 827,000, with about DKK 20,000 more in exam and authority fees (its price page, as search results showed it that day). Finnair’s MPL, trained at Center Air, costs its students EUR 60,000 and asks for fluent Finnish. Ask what the price includes, whether your course is approved for SU, and who pays for the type rating.

Do I need to speak Danish to become a pilot in Denmark? Not for the license: Trafikstyrelsen holds the ATPL theory exams in English, and the radio needs English at ICAO Level 4 or above. The airlines are another matter: SAS asks for ICAO English at Level 5 or 6; Norwegian for English at Level 5 or higher, while Jettime’s and Sunclass’s 2026 postings, as search results showed them on 28 October 2026, asked for a Scandinavian or a Nordic language.

Where do I take the ATPL exams in Denmark? With Trafikstyrelsen, in English, and only through an approved flight school, which enters you for the exams under FCL.025 (Trafikstyrelsen’s entry form, read on 28 October 2026). We could not find the 2026 dates, rooms or fee, so ask your school. All 13 papers must be passed within 18 months, counted from the end of the month of your first attempt, in no more than six sittings and four attempts at any one (FCL.025).

How do I become a pilot with SAS? Through its direct-entry routes: its Experienced First Officers need an EASA CPL or MPL, 400 hours on CS-25 or FAR-25 aircraft, the MCC course, ICAO English at Level 5 or 6 and an unrestricted right to live and work in the EU, and SAS pays the type rating; its selection runs from a screening and a recruiter interview to online cognitive and personality tests and an assessment day with a group exercise, a simulator session and an interview. The status at the last check: SAS had five pilot vacancies open on 25 August 2026, among them Experienced First Officer at its Scandinavian bases and Direct Entry Captain on the A320 in Copenhagen, and its E195 Direct Entry Captain posting was still on its careers site on 12 October 2026. SAS lists a Cadet First Officer route, but its posting showed “this position has been filled” at the last check. Apply only through SAS’s own careers site.