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

Spain licenses its airline pilots through the Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA), the state aviation safety agency, 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” Spanish airlines hire on. AESA sets the theory exams from EASA’s central question bank, at its own centers in Madrid and El Prat de Llobregat and at six schools, and the airlines add a second filter of their own, Spanish, up to level 6, and some a license issued by AESA itself. The route every EASA state shares, hour by hour, is on our Europe page; this one is about what is Spanish: AESA and its exams, the license transfer, the airlines’ language rules, the cadet routes and the university degree, the money and the Air Force.

1. The Class 1 medical, at an authorized center

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. AESA’s aviation medicine page says a medical certificate can be obtained or renewed only through an aero-medical center (AeMC) or an aero-medical examiner (AME) authorized by the aviation authority of an EASA member state, and links the centers and examiners AESA itself has authorized in Spain, so pick yours from that list. If you need to fill in AESA’s pre-application for the examination (pre-solicitud de reconocimiento médico) before your visit, you do it on AESA’s electronic office, with no registration or digital certificate needed (the page, last modified on 15 June 2026, read on 25 October 2026). Your first Class 1 can be done only at an AeMC certified for Class 1, and revalidations and renewals also by an AME with Class 1 privileges (EASA’s medical FAQ). The certificate lasts 12 months, and 6 from the age of 60, or from 40 in single-pilot commercial air transport with passengers (MED.A.045, step 1 of the Europe page), and a Class 1 issued in another EASA state is valid in Spain.

What the Spanish airlines ask. Iberia asks for a valid EASA Class 1, and a height of 157 to 191 cm on its direct-entry and cadet routes alike; Vueling’s last First Officer call asked for a Class 1 medical certificate; Binter names a Class 1; so does Air Europa. The medical certification article explains the classes and the examination.

2. Schools, degrees and cadet routes

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. A school based in Spain is approved by AESA, and AESA’s theory-exam pages also have a section headed “ATOs no aprobadas por AESA”, for training organizations it has not approved, so ask a school which authority approved it and where its students sit the exams. These are the doors the Spanish airlines and universities name:

• Airline cadet routes. Iberia Cadetes, run with FTEJerez, trains cadets on an integrated ATPL course of which Iberia finances 50%, repaid from your salary once you fly for Iberia; the sixth edition opened on 23 February 2026 and closed for applications in early March (checked 12 October 2026); the 2026 call, by FTEJerez’s FAQ as Iberia’s record has it, asked for a completed university degree, European nationality or a permanent work permit in Spain, no criminal record, English at B2, Spanish at C1 for candidates who are not Spanish and a height of 157 to 191 cm, and took no one who had already sat ATPL exams; it stated no age limit (checked 12 October 2026); a cadet who leaves for failing the academic objectives pays 100% of the program’s cost, and the job offer depends on passing the A320 type rating course, Iberia’s medical checks and a clean criminal record, and on Iberia needing pilots at the time (checked 12 October 2026); Vueling MAPS, its Mentored Airline Pilot Scheme with FTEJerez, is an MPL course that includes the A320 type rating; it was closed for applications when FTEJerez’s page for it was last read, on 25 August 2026 (checked 12 October 2026). Watch FTEJerez’s site as well as the airline’s for the next call.
• Volotea, which our jobs board does not track, has two schools advertising cadet programs for it, as their own pages showed them on 25 October 2026: CAE’s Volotea MPL Career Programme takes you from little or no flying experience to joining Volotea as an A320 First Officer, mentored by Volotea pilots from your first day, and carried an “Apply today” form; BAA Training’s Volotea MPL Cadet Program, an 18-month MPL with ground school in Vilnius, Barcelona or Paris, flying at Lleida-Alguaire and the type rating in Vilnius or Barcelona, for applicants over 18 with secondary education and the right to live and work in the EU, with BAA’s assessment followed by an interview with Volotea, said it was closed for enrollment. We read no Volotea page on its cadets, so ask the airline which program it is recruiting through.
• Air Europa Express, then a regional sister airline of Air Europa in the Globalia group, launched its first mentored cadet program with FTEJerez in February 2019: secondary-school qualifications, Spanish at ICAO level 6 or C2 and English at ICAO level 4 or B2, and a move to a First Officer seat after the ATPL course (FTEJerez’s news release of 4 February 2019, read on 25 October 2026); we found no current intake.
• A degree with the license. Adventia, the European College of Aeronautics (Escuela Aeronáutica Adventia), an approved training organization attached to the University of Salamanca, teaches the Grado en Piloto de Aviación Comercial y Operaciones Aéreas, a 240-credit (ECTS) bachelor’s degree approved by Spain’s Council of Ministers on 18 July 2014. Its licensing subjects are the minimum training for the commercial and airline transport pilot licenses, which you obtain by passing AESA’s official exams, and Adventia’s 2025-26 calendar schedules those exams with AESA at its own center at Salamanca airport and in Madrid (the university’s study plan and exam calendar, and an Adventia notice on the regional government’s site, read on 25 October 2026). Ask the university what the degree costs beyond the tuition fees and where the flying is done.

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 AESA

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 Spanish is where and how you sit them, as AESA’s pages showed them on 25 October 2026:

• Electronic exams. AESA holds the theory exams on a computer, under the electronic exam system its 2026 circular describes, and a 2020 AESA notice lists among them those for the ATPL, CPL, MPL, IR and EIR. Its question-bank page (last modified on 10 July 2026) says the Part-FCL banks used for the CPL and ATPL exams are those of EASA’s European Central Question Bank (ECQB), and that the exams use its 2026 version (Amendment 2).
• AESA’s two centers, and six at schools. AESA’s circular “Calendario y Sedes 2026” (FOR-EFT-CI26, edition 03, dated 24 June 2026) puts its Madrid center at the headquarters of SENASA, open 8:30 to 14:30, with sittings all year by the calendar of its electronic exam application, and its Barcelona center at the Centre de Promoció Econòmica in El Prat de Llobregat, 8:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 16:15, in set weeks of the year. It also lists exam centers at six schools, each open in set weeks: in Sabadell (Barcelona), at Adventia in Salamanca, in Mutxamel (Alicante), at FTEJerez in Jerez de la Frontera, in Málaga, and, the newest, at Son Bonet in Mallorca; AESA keeps capacity in reserve to add more at approved schools. The circular says any copy must be checked against the current one on AESA’s site, so read it there, and ask a school center whether it takes candidates from other schools, before you book.
• The language of the papers, Spanish, English or both, is among the points we could not confirm on AESA’s pages; ask AESA or your school before you choose your study material.
• 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). AESA’s transfer page, as search results showed it, also asks for English proficiency before AESA takes over a license from another state (step 6), and what the Spanish airlines ask of your Spanish is there too.

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). Spanish airlines hire long before that. Where the doors were at the last check:

• Iberia’s last direct-entry call, announced on 9 July 2025, took First Officers without a type rating, based in Madrid, with a frozen ATPL and MCC and 500 hours on CS-25 airplanes, and they had to be flying for an operator when they applied, as two trade reports of that day gave its terms; the vacancy showed as filled on 25 August 2026, and a search on 12 October 2026 found no newer call (checked 12 October 2026).
• Vueling’s “First Officer A320 - 2026” call took a frozen ATPL and listed experience on the A320, A330 or A340 only as an advantage; it has expired, its “200 Factorized Vueling Hours”, the only hours figure Vueling publishes, are not defined anywhere on its site, and its pilots’ talent pool, “Connect”, was still open (checked 12 October 2026).
• Binter listed non-type-rated “Copiloto E-2” posts for the Embraer E195-E2, for a CPL or an MPL with the ATPL theory, an instrument rating and MCC, with no total-hours figure, and ATR-rated First Officers and Captains, plus ATR 72-600 posts at its group operator Naysa, including a Fast Track Captain stream, in search results of its portal (checked 29 September 2026).
• Air Europa’s last call, for Boeing 737 First Officers based in Madrid, wanted the 737 rating, 500 hours on the type and a frozen ATPL with MCC; it closed on 5 April 2026, with a general aeronautical knowledge test and personality and skills assessments on 20 April and the interview and simulator on 22 to 24 April, all in Madrid (checked 29 September 2026).
• IAG has allocated its order for 50 Boeing 737s to Vueling, the first three due in the fourth quarter of 2026, by IAG’s 2026 results as Vueling’s record has them; whether that creates direct-entry vacancies, and on which type new joiners would train, is among the points we could not confirm (checked 12 October 2026).

Read the hours with their qualifier. Iberia’s 500 hours are on airplanes certified under CS-25, EASA’s large-airplane standard, or an equivalent, and you must also be flying for an operator when you apply, so a newly qualified pilot who instructs meanwhile builds total time but not those hours. 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 Spain and beyond.

5. The Spanish airlines, and what they ask

The four airlines on our jobs board based in Spain, 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. Iberia’s careers portal showed no pilot vacancy and no cadet listing on 25 August 2026 (checked 12 October 2026); Vueling had no pilot vacancy on 25 August 2026 (checked 12 October 2026); Binter’s portal listed E195-E2 and ATR posts in search results, with no closing dates showing (checked 29 September 2026); Air Europa’s status was unconfirmed, with no newer call since the one that closed on 5 April 2026 (checked 29 September 2026). Others on our board fly from Spain under another country: Eurowings, listed under Germany, names Palma among its bases (checked 21 September 2026); Norwegian’s last First Officer vacancies said an offer may come for any of its bases in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Latvia or Spain (checked 21 September 2026); Smartwings listed 737 First Officer vacancies for the Canary Islands, in search results of its pages (checked 29 September 2026). Iberia tests in stages and in groups, and emails pre-selected candidates the date and place of the tests; Iberia takes applications only through its own portal, trabajaconnosotros.iberia.es. Other airlines in Spain, Iberia Express and Volotea among them, are not on our board, so read their own careers pages. The pages for Iberia and Vueling set out their requirements line by line, and the interview guides for Iberia and Vueling cover their selections.

6. Right to work, Spanish, and the AESA license

The right to work comes first. Two of the four Spanish airlines on our jobs board ask for a right to work you must already hold or say they sponsor no visa; for the other two it is not published. Iberia asks for the right to work in the EU and a passport without restrictions, offers no visa sponsorship and wants a criminal record certificate (checked 12 October 2026); Air Europa an EU work permit, a valid passport without restrictions and a criminal-record certificate showing no convictions (checked 29 September 2026); Binter’s right-to-work wording is among the points we could not confirm, and its E-2 posts ask for no criminal record in the last five years (checked 29 September 2026); Vueling publishes no nationality or visa statement (checked 12 October 2026). The visa sponsorship page lists the airlines that sponsor one, worldwide.

Spanish is the second filter. The license needs English, but the airlines ask for Spanish: Iberia’s direct-entry call asked for Spanish (castellano) at level 5 and English at level 4, without naming the scale, though these are the levels of the ICAO and AESA language proficiency scale (checked 12 October 2026); its 2026 cadet call asked for English at B2, and Spanish at C1 from candidates who are not Spanish, on the CEFR scale (checked 12 October 2026); Air Europa asks for English at level 4 and Spanish at level 6 (checked 29 September 2026); Binter for ICAO English at Level 4 with Spanish at Level 5 on the E195-E2, and Spanish at 4 on the ATR (checked 29 September 2026); Vueling’s call for ICAO English Level 4, held before its operator conversion course starts (checked 12 October 2026). Levels 4 to 6 are the ICAO scale, where Level 6 is the expert level and needs no reassessment, and B2 and C1 the European (CEFR) scale used for general language certificates, so check which one a call names before you book a test. On schooling, Iberia’s direct-entry call asked for the university entrance exam passed, or studies that give access to university, and its cadets for a completed degree (checked 12 October 2026).

A license issued by AESA. An EASA license from another member state is valid in Spain without conversion (step 6 of the Europe page), but the Spanish airlines ask for more: Iberia wants a license not issued by AESA converted, starting at once and finished within four months of hiring, at your own cost (checked 12 October 2026); Vueling wants a Spanish EASA license held before its operator conversion course starts, though not when you apply (checked 12 October 2026). Moving it to AESA is a transfer between EASA authorities, and AESA’s page on it sets three conditions: the license must show its radiotelephony privileges, you must hold an English language proficiency level, and you must ask for every Part-FCL license you hold to be transferred. You first ask your current authority to send your medical file to AESA’s aviation medicine division, then apply on AESA’s electronic office (sede electrónica) under the license issue procedure for your category of aircraft, with the documents it lists and proof that you paid fee 31 (tasa, tarifa 31ª) (AESA’s transfer page, last modified in July 2026, in search results on 25 October 2026). Start it as soon as you have an offer.

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, which for a pilot hired in Spain means AESA; a UK license has counted as a third-country license since 1 January 2021 (EASA’s licensing and Brexit FAQs, the Europe page). FAA vs EASA covers the FAA conversion in both directions.

The military route runs through the Spanish Air and Space Force (Ejército del Aire y del Espacio) and its General Air Academy (Academia General del Aire) at San Javier, in Murcia (in search results on 25 October 2026). We could not read a current entry competition, its ages or its nationality rule, so read them on the Ministry of Defence’s recruitment portal, reclutamiento.defensa.gob.es, 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).

7. Money and time

Ask every school what its price includes: the theory and flying phases, the MCC or airline pilot standards MCC, the upset training course, AESA’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 what you owe if you leave or fail, and on what terms a job follows: Iberia’s, for one, depends on its needs at the time (step 2).

Common questions

How long does it take to become an airline pilot in Spain? As long as your school’s course, plus the airline selection: the ATPL theory alone must be passed within 18 months of your first paper (FCL.025), and Spanish schools publish their own course lengths. 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 Spanish airlines hire before that.

How much does pilot training cost in Spain? We could not read two Spanish schools’ current price lists in October 2026, so this page quotes no Spanish range; the Europe page sets out two EASA schools’ published prices. Iberia Cadetes: Iberia finances 50% of the course, repaid by payroll deduction once you work for Iberia; whether that loan is interest-free is among the points we could not confirm. Ask every school what its price includes, and who pays for the type rating.

Do I need to speak Spanish to fly for a Spanish airline? Not for the license, which needs English at ICAO Level 4 or above, but the airlines ask for it: Iberia’s direct-entry call asked for Spanish (castellano) at level 5 and English at level 4, without naming the scale, though these are the levels of the ICAO and AESA language proficiency scale; its 2026 cadet call asked for English at B2, and Spanish at C1 from candidates who are not Spanish, on the CEFR scale; Air Europa asks for English at level 4 and Spanish at level 6; Binter for ICAO English at Level 4 with Spanish at Level 5 on the E195-E2, and Spanish at 4 on the ATR; Vueling’s call for ICAO English Level 4, held before its operator conversion course starts.

Where do I sit the ATPL exams in Spain? With AESA, on a computer, with questions from EASA’s central question bank: at AESA’s own centers in Madrid, at SENASA, and in El Prat de Llobregat, or at one of the six school centers its 2026 calendar circular lists, in Sabadell, Salamanca, Mutxamel, Jerez de la Frontera, Málaga and Son Bonet (Mallorca), each open in set weeks (the circular, edition 03 of 24 June 2026). All the papers must be passed within 18 months, in no more than six sittings and four attempts at any one (FCL.025). Check the current circular on AESA’s site before you book.

Do I need a Spanish license to fly for Iberia or Vueling? Yes, sooner or later: Iberia wants a license not issued by AESA converted, starting at once and finished within four months of hiring, at your own cost; Vueling wants a Spanish EASA license held before its operator conversion course starts, though not when you apply. A transfer to AESA, by its transfer page as search results showed it in October 2026, needs the radiotelephony privileges on the license, an English proficiency level and your medical file sent to AESA, and covers every Part-FCL license you hold.