Lufthansa Group Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, Licence and Hiring Process

At the last check the only way into a Lufthansa cockpit with applications open was the European Flight Academy (EFA), the Group’s own flight school: no licence or flying experience needed, but a DLR aptitude certificate before you apply, the Abitur, German at C1 if it is not your first language, English, and EU, Swiss or EFTA citizenship, from age 17 with no upper limit. Training is self-funded at €130,000, and the “Take-Off Promise” refunds half if no Group airline offers you a cockpit job within 24 months of finishing. Deutsche Lufthansa AG had no direct-entry First Officer or Captain vacancy; licensed pilots apply to the Group airlines that do, such as SWISS, Edelweiss, Lufthansa City Airlines and Air Dolomiti, each a separate employer.

Is Lufthansa Group hiring pilots now?

Cadet only at the last check on 25 August 2026 — First Officer seat: Cadet route only; Captain seat: Not offered. Cadet route only: no direct-entry vacancies, and German C1 needed if not a native speaker

Requirements, as published

Reading the cadet requirements line by line

• The DLR certificate comes first. You book, pay for and sit the German Aerospace Center’s test in Hamburg, Milan or Zurich before you can apply; in Hamburg it runs from 08:00 to about 17:00. EFA’s booking page gave a standard fee of €427, with discounted dates at times (as indexed in October 2026). You need an A or B in the basic cognitive abilities and at least a C in the operational, personality and social areas. Swiss citizens can use a SPHAIR certificate instead, but then only SWISS and Edelweiss are open to them after training.
• German at C1 for Lufthansa. Lufthansa Aviation Training’s table of airline requirements asks for C1 if German is not your first language, as SWISS does. The same table gives B2 for most other Group airlines (an airline’s own vacancy can ask for more: Edelweiss adverts ask for C1), lists German as optional at Lufthansa City Airlines, and asks for French or Dutch instead at Brussels Airlines.
• The Abitur specifically. EFA accepts the Matura, the Fachhochschulreife or the Swiss Federal Vocational Baccalaureate for training, but the Lufthansa column of the same table lists only the Allgemeine Hochschulreife. A Fachhochschulreife may get you trained without making you eligible for the Lufthansa seat itself.
• English, without an ICAO level. An A or B in the DLR English section, or a B2 certificate (Cambridge, IELTS, TOEFL iBT, TOEIC and others) if you scored C or D.
• Height 165 to 198 cm, with exceptions at the aero-medical examiner’s discretion. The Class 1 medical and a drug screening come at Step 3, not at application.
• Citizenship, not residence. The rule is EU, Swiss or EFTA citizenship, so a long-term resident without one of those passports does not meet it.

Entry routes

• Cadet / ab-initio - European Flight Academy ATPL programme (Lufthansa Group flight school); applications OPEN as at 25 Aug 2026, with published waiting time
• Direct entry First Officer - NOT currently offered by Deutsche Lufthansa AG; no vacancy on the Group careers portal as at 25 Aug 2026 (live Group direct-entry FO vacancies are at SWISS - Direct Entry First Officer A320, posted 16/07/2026; Edelweiss - Direct Entry First Officer A320, posted 11/02/2026; and Lufthansa City Airlines - First Officer A220, posted 29/07/2025)
• Type-rated First Officer - NOT currently offered by Deutsche Lufthansa AG; no vacancy published as at 25 Aug 2026
• Direct entry Captain - NOT currently offered by Deutsche Lufthansa AG; no vacancy published as at 25 Aug 2026 (live Group Captain vacancies are at Air Dolomiti - Direct Entry Captain, posted 24/06/2026; Lufthansa City Airlines - Captain A220/A320, posted 05/06/2025, and Fast Track Upgrade to Command A320, posted 30/07/2025; Edelweiss - Direct Entry Freelance Commander A350, posted 29/01/2026. All are separate Group airlines.)

Lufthansa or the Lufthansa Group: where licensed pilots apply

The Lufthansa Group careers portal lists cockpit jobs for every Group airline, and on 25 August 2026 none of its ten live cockpit vacancies was for Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Each airline below is a separate employer with its own published requirements and its own language rule, as recorded at its last check:

Two things follow for a licensed pilot. A vacancy on the Group portal is rarely a Lufthansa mainline vacancy, so check the employing airline before you apply. And Group direct-entry adverts do appear and are withdrawn (a “Direct Entry First Officer A330” advert still indexed by search engines now returns “gone”), so set an alert rather than relying on one search. PilotJobsNetwork, a pilot-contributed wiki, said in 2026 that Lufthansa Airlines has hired no First Officers since the start of 2025 other than EFA cadets; we could not confirm that from Lufthansa.

What the European Flight Academy costs, and the Take-Off Promise

EFA’s own costs page gives €130,000 for the ATPL programme, paid in six instalments of €10,000, €10,000, €15,000, €35,000, €45,000 and €15,000. Some aggregator sites still quote €120,000; EFA’s figure is the one to plan on. On top come the DLR fee, the Class 1 medical and living costs during about 24 months of training: theory in Bremen or Zurich, flying in Goodyear, Arizona, on the Cirrus SR20, then the DA42 in Germany or the DA40NG and SR20 in Switzerland.

The type rating is outside the programme (EFA describes the 24 months as “excluding type rating”), and neither EFA nor Lufthansa publishes who pays for it or whether the hiring airline bonds it. Ask before you sign.

The Take-Off Promise refunds 50% of the training cost if no Lufthansa Group airline offers you a cockpit job within 24 months of finishing. An offer from any Group airline fulfils it, not only one from Lufthansa, and EFA says you lose the promise if you stop meeting a training requirement, for example by losing your medical; taking a job outside the cockpit while you wait does not forfeit it. EFA also warns that it has more applicants than selection places, so expect a wait for a course start.

After training the employing airline holds an “Airline Fit” interview, then about three months of line flying under supervision with a training captain, then the check flight to First Officer.

Selection process

1. Step 0 - Book and sit the DLR test (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt) at your own cost in Hamburg, Milan or Zurich; computer-based, covering memory, spatial understanding, English, mathematics, technical comprehension, psychomotor skills, multi-tasking and personality traits. A qualifying certificate rating is required before you may apply.
2. Step 1 - Online application to the European Flight Academy with the DLR certificate, CV, ID, school leaving certificate/Abitur and language certificates
3. Step 2 - Lufthansa Group Assessment (assessment centre); includes interviews, group exercises and psychomotor testing with psychologists present. EFA states the DLR competency areas 'will be - among other areas - part of Step 2 (LHG Assessment)'
4. Step 3 - EASA Class 1 aero-medical fitness examination, including a drug screening
5. Step 4 - Register for one of the next open flight-training slots (waiting time currently published as likely, more applicants than selection spots)
6. After training - an 'Airline Fit' interview with the prospective employer airline; then 3 months Line Flying Under Supervision (LIFUS) with a training captain, then the check flight to First Officer

Bases and fleet

Bases: Frankfurt · Munich

Fleet: Airbus A319-100 · Airbus A320-200 · Airbus A320neo · Airbus A321-100/200 · Airbus A321neo · Airbus A330-300 · Airbus A340-300 · Airbus A340-600 · Airbus A350-900 · Airbus A380-800 · Boeing 747-400 · Boeing 747-8 · Boeing 787-9

Operator and fleet changes that decide where new pilots fly

• CityLine has closed; City Airlines is growing. Lufthansa withdrew Lufthansa CityLine’s 27 CRJ900s from 18 April 2026, citing fuel costs and the labour dispute, and short-haul flying is moving to Lufthansa City Airlines. City Airlines began flying in June 2024, opened a Frankfurt base in February 2026 and flies the A319 and A320neo; its first A220-300, of 40 ordered, is due in November 2026 for service in early 2027 (ch-aviation).
• Long-haul renewal at Lufthansa itself. The first A350-1000 was due in early October 2026, to be based in Munich with the other A350s and to enter service from late October (ch-aviation, One Mile at a Time). 787-9 deliveries continue, and the 777-9 is not expected before 2027.
• A pilots’ dispute in 2026. The Vereinigung Cockpit union called strikes in February, March and April 2026 over company pensions (The Local, AeroTime), and German press reports say the dispute also covers moving aircraft and crews between the Group’s flight operations.

For a cadet, the practical consequence is that the first seat after EFA may well be at City Airlines or another Group airline rather than at Lufthansa itself, and the Take-Off Promise counts any Group offer. At the Airline Fit stage, ask which operator, base and type you are being hired for.

How to prepare

The first filter is the DLR test, and it comes before the application, so start there: timed mental arithmetic, spatial orientation, memory, multitasking, physics and English, with the ATPL theory banks for the maths, physics and technical comprehension it draws on. The Lufthansa Group assessment that follows adds interviews, group exercises and psychomotor tests with psychologists present. New First Officers in the Group start on short-haul types, the A320 family at Lufthansa and Lufthansa City Airlines and, from 2027, the A220 at City Airlines, so the A320 bank is the type preparation once you have a place.

For what each selection stage involves and the questions candidates report, read our Lufthansa pilot interview guide. The Library explains pilot career pathways and airline recruitment and selection, and the cadet programmes page compares the European Flight Academy with other airline schools. Check the Lufthansa Group entry on the jobs board for the latest status, and the other Group airlines on the European pilot jobs page.

What we could not confirm

• Lufthansa City Airlines, a Group airline, has live A220 First Officer and A220/A320 Captain vacancies on the Group portal (seen in search results 21 September 2026). It is listed separately on this board; it is not Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
• Whether Deutsche Lufthansa AG runs any direct-entry (experienced or type-rated) First Officer or Captain recruitment at all. No such vacancy and no published requirements were found on Lufthansa's own sites on 25 Aug 2026. Absence of a listing is not proof the route does not exist - it may open in waves. Supporting this: a Group 'Direct Entry First Officer A330' advert (portal id 113667) still indexed by search engines now returns HTTP 410 Gone, i.e. Group direct-entry ads do appear and are later withdrawn. The employing airline on that withdrawn advert could NOT be determined and must not be attributed to Lufthansa mainline.
• Any minimum total hours, hours on type, or type-rating/bonding terms for a Lufthansa mainline direct-entry pilot. Nothing is published. Do NOT quote a figure.
• Who pays for the first type rating and on what bonding terms. EFA's FAQ indicates the type rating sits outside the ~24-month programme, but neither the cost pages nor any Lufthansa page states whether the hiring airline funds, charges or bonds it.
• Whether an ICAO English Level 4 minimum is formally applied to Lufthansa mainline. Lufthansa's own airline-requirements table quotes ICAO Level 4 for Edelweiss, Austrian and Eurowings but for Lufthansa states only 'English: required, written and oral'.
• Any upper age limit. None is published on the selection-process page or the FAQ; only the lower limit of 17 at application.
• Current EFA course start dates, intake sizes and actual waiting time. Only the qualitative statement 'you may have to expect some waiting time' is published.
• Whether a cadet is contractually assigned to Lufthansa mainline on graduation, or enters a Group-wide pool. EFA wording implies prospects across the Group, not a guaranteed mainline seat, and the Take-Off Promise is discharged by an offer from any Group airline.

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 Lufthansa hiring pilots in 2026? Only through the European Flight Academy at the last check. On 25 August 2026 the Lufthansa Group portal had ten live cockpit vacancies and none was for Deutsche Lufthansa AG; the direct-entry jobs were at SWISS, Edelweiss, Lufthansa City Airlines and Air Dolomiti. EFA’s application page was open, with a warning that applicants outnumber selection places.

How much does it cost to become a Lufthansa pilot? EFA’s ATPL programme costs €130,000, paid in six instalments, and the trainee pays it. Add the DLR test, which you book and pay for yourself before applying, the Class 1 medical and living costs. The type rating is outside the programme and nobody publishes who pays for it. If no Group airline offers you a cockpit job within 24 months of finishing, the Take-Off Promise refunds half the training cost.

Do you need to speak German to fly for Lufthansa? Yes. Lufthansa asks for German at C1 if it is not your first language, as SWISS does. Lufthansa Aviation Training’s table of Group requirements gives B2 for most other Group airlines, though an airline’s own vacancy can ask for more; it lists German as optional at Lufthansa City Airlines, and Brussels Airlines asks for French or Dutch alongside English instead.

What is the DLR test? A one-day computer-based aptitude test run by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Hamburg, Milan or Zurich, covering memory, spatial ability, English, mathematics, technical comprehension, psychomotor skills, multitasking and personality. You need its certificate, with an A or B in the basic cognitive abilities, before you can apply to EFA, and you book and pay for it yourself.

Can a licensed pilot join Lufthansa directly? Not at the last check. Deutsche Lufthansa AG published no direct-entry vacancy and no direct-entry hours or type-rating terms, and figures such as “1,500 hours multi-crew jet” on aggregator sites do not come from Lufthansa. Group airlines with their own vacancies, such as SWISS, Edelweiss and Lufthansa City Airlines, are the realistic route for a licensed pilot, and Group direct-entry adverts open and close without notice.