HOW TO CONVERT AN ATPL TO EASA
Below is a partial segment of the requirements for conversion of a licence issued by or on behalf of a third country according to EASA Commission Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 Annex III
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO LICENCE AND FLIGHT HOURS
PIC - Pilot in Command MPA - Multi Pilot Aeroplane SPA - Single Pilot Aeroplane COPI - Co Pilot
> 1500 Hours PIC on MPA
FURTHER REQUIREMENTS
NONE
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Part FCL licence and conditions
ATPL (A)
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Removal of Conditions
NOT APPLICABLE
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> 1500 Hours on MPA
FURTHER REQUIREMENTS
NONE
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Part FCL licence and conditions
ATPL(A), with type rating restricted to COPI.
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Removal of Conditions
NOT APPLICABLE
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> 500 Hours on MPA
FURTHER REQUIREMENTS
'Demonstrate knowledge of flight planning and performance as required by FCL.515'
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Part FCL licence and conditions
ATPL(A), with type rating restricted to COPI.
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Removal of Conditions
'Demonstrate ability to act as PIC as required by Appendix 9 to Part-FCL'
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If you meet one of the above hour requirements, you will be eligible to convert an ATPL to an EASA ATPL. This will allow you exemption from having to sit any ground school and instead self study until you are ready to write the 14 exams. IF YOU DON'T MEET REQUIREMENTS as specified, but have an ATPL, then its best to directly consult one of the EASA authorities from
OUR LIST BY CLICKING HERE
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So if you meet the flight requirements - what else do you need?
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Must have right to live and work in the EU un-restricted
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Must not have a criminal record
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Must have/be able to pass Language Proficiency of 4 or higher before the issue of an EASA licence
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Must be able to pass a medical relevant to the level of licence you wish to obtain.
Take Note
1) Your Medical dictates where your licence is issued.
The State (Country) with which you complete your EASA Class 1 Medical, is the state in which your licence will be issued. Not where you write your exams or conduct your EASA Skills Test.
2) You must prepare for your 14 EASA exams.
Each individual EASA authority deals with these differently from country to country. It is important you research this before starting as you can't write one exam in lets say Austria and the next exam in the Netherlands just because they are both part of EASA. You must decide which EASA authority suits you and stick to it for the duration of your exams.
More detailed exam information for each specific EASA authority and how they handle each exam can be found at the link/button below.
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NOTE: As an ATPL holder, if you don't wish to go through a flight school, you must contact an EASA authority directly and request prior permission to write the exams. Again you will find the EASA authority directory by clicking on the button below.
3) Do you have 500 hours on an aircraft type?
i.e B737, B777, A340 A320, E120, E145, E190 etc.
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This is the minimum requirement to add a type to your licence. It might also save you some money during your initial conversion and avoid having to go through an expensive flight school. Some, but not all, flight schools will tell you that you need to do Single Engine Piston class rating, then a Multi Engine Piston class rating, before demonstrating your skills during a mock test with an in-house instructor and then finally take part in a Skills test.
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However, if you have an ATPL, are eligible to convert to an ATPL, and have more than 500 hours on a type, you can perform a single skills test in a simulator specifically approved for the type with which you are current and wish to add to your licence.
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To save you time and research, click on the button below to view a list we put together of all the Simulators in Europe for each type.
4) Distance Learning Schools
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Although an ATPL conversion does not require one to take part in a ground school, some ATPL pilots opt to take part in this process anyway.
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If you wish to take part in Distance Learning, click on the button below to find a comprehensive list of Distance / E-Learning options available in Europe.
5) Use Facebook ATPL groups.​
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These forums are an extremely valuable resource, and are sometimes moderated /monitored by various EASA examiners themselves.
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One group in particular stood out for us at Aero Jobs Europe, and we feel without it, we might not have done as well as we did when we ourselves converted our ATPL licence.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What question bank should I study?
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There are many question banks to consider, the majority are very good. Personally, we used the one below.
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Aviation Exam - This is excellent for learning and offers an offline application.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT AVIATION EXAM
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How can one book an EASA exam date?
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If you have an ATPL, and just wish to convert your licence on your own, you can book the EASA exams yourself without approval from a flight school but must get prior approval from the authority itself. You can find a list of authorities HERE
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Do I have to sit Ground School Theory?
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If you don't have an ATPL yet, then yes you must sit ground school. It can be done via online distance learning. Here is a list of the Distance / E-Learning Options available to you in Europe.
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What are the 14 EASA ATPL Theory Exam subjects?
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010 - Air Law
021 - Airframe, Systems, Electrics, Power Plant
022 - Instrumentation
031 - Mass & Balance
032 + 034 - Performance (Airplane OR Helicopter)
033 - Flight Planning & Monitoring
040 - Human Performance & Limitations
050 - Meteorology
061 - General Navigation
062 - Radio Navigation
070 - Operational Procedures
081 + 082 - Principles of Flight (Airplane OR Helicopter)
091 - VFR Communications
092 - IFR Communications
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Are all the EASA exams handled the same in each country?
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NO !!!
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Each EASA state (Country) handles the exams differently. Although maximum sittings are always 6, the number of failures allowed are the same, there are some big differences.
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The following differs from country to country:
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1) Days given for 1 sitting.
2) Hours given per sitting.
3) Electronic or Hand Written
4) Time in which you receive your results
5) Some offer remarks and others don't
6) Some offer 1 day for a sitting and others offer several days.
7) The price differs from country to country
8) Some have a single exam venue and others several
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It is for this reason that we have created a detailed list of what each country offers for exams and it can be found HERE
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What is a sitting?
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A sitting is a defined period within which one can write exams. EASA provides students with a maximum of 6 sittings. The length of time given for each sitting depends on what each individual EASA country decides is necessary.
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Click HERE to see a list of how long/how many sitting are provided per country
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