About 200 new recruits
DFS, which provides air traffic control in Germany, announced on 1 October that about 200 people are starting their careers with the company in 2026. Of these, 144 are student air traffic controllers and about 24 are trainees in other operational roles, all starting at different points during the year.
About 50 apprentices and dual-study students started in the autumn, and in total about 600 people are in training or dual-study programmes at DFS.
On 30 June 2026 the company had about 5,900 employees, around 2,200 of them air traffic controllers.
Applying for 2027
Applications for air traffic controller training and the dual study programme in Air Traffic Management are open all year. For the other dual study programmes and apprenticeships starting in autumn 2027, the deadline is 31 October 2026.
What DFS asks of applicants
DFS asks for the German Abitur with a grade average of at least 2.7, fluent German and English at Abitur level or a C1 certificate. Applicants without a German Abitur need a C1 certificate in German.
Eyesight and colour vision must meet strict limits, and medical fitness follows EU Regulation 2015/340. Applicants of any nationality are welcome. Those from outside the EU also need a permanent residence permit, a work permit and recognition of their school diploma.
Selection at DLR in Hamburg
The selection starts online with a biographical questionnaire and tests of number skills and spatial reasoning. Two stages follow at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Hamburg: computer tests of spatial reasoning, stress resistance, concentration, memory, decision-making, numbers and English, and then teamwork exercises and interviews.
A medical examination comes before the training contract. DFS says you can apply for controller training only once, and it sends practice material for the computer tests before the Hamburg stage.
Where ATC Tests fits
DFS selects its own controllers with DLR, not with FEAST. EUROCONTROL’s list of FEAST users includes DFS Aviation Services, a DFS subsidiary, but not DFS itself.
Our tests are in the style of FEAST, not of the DLR tests. Several of the abilities overlap, such as memory, mental arithmetic and spatial reasoning, so they can still be useful practice.