A workshop for the authorities
EASA and EUROCONTROL held a workshop on 27–28 October 2026 for the national authorities that approve controller training. It took place at EUROCONTROL’s Aviation Learning Centre in Luxembourg.
CANSO, the GATE Training Organisation, EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht centre (MUAC), and the Belgian and Irish authorities gave their views on the change.
The workshop concluded that CBTA is the most significant change to controller training since the common European rules were established.
Training organisations and authorities need to talk early. Courses may be updated now, as long as they meet the current requirements until the end of 2028.
What the regulation says
The change comes from Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2143, adopted on 23 October 2025, which amends the EU rules for controller licences (Regulation 2015/340).
From 1 January 2029, training organisations must follow CBTA when they develop training plans and courses for all types of training.
CBTA builds training and assessment around defined standards of performance. To count as competent, a student must show all the competencies together, across several observations in different situations.
Why the rules are changing
EASA says there is no common EU-wide performance standard for student controllers today. Each initial training organisation sets its own final standard.
The only requirement is that students can handle complex and dense traffic, and that is not defined.
In EASA’s example, one licence holder can control 45 aircraft an hour of mixed types and another 20 of similar types.
EASA also compares a 16-week basic course for commercial clients with 21 weeks for a provider’s own students, and estimates that pass rates vary from 50 to 100%.
The regulation gives the wider reason: the limited availability of controllers restricts the capacity of European air traffic management.
What students will be assessed on
Basic training assesses at least seven competencies: situational awareness, traffic and capacity management, separation and conflict resolution, communication, coordination, self-management and teamwork.
Rating training adds three: management of non-routine situations, problem-solving and decision-making, and workload management.
Basic training is assessed on a part-task trainer or a simulator, and rating training on a simulator. Theory exams have a pass mark of 75%.
EASA’s guidance also sets minimum conditions for a rating assessment. Each exercise lasts at least 45 minutes.
For area control surveillance (ACS) it should include at least 28 aircraft, with at least six generating conflicts or actions at the same time at the peak.
The figures for approach control surveillance (APS) are 20 and five, and for aerodrome control (ADC) 24 movements and five.
Instructors must give timely, continuous feedback and use the competency model to find the root cause when a student struggles. Assessors must debrief in a way that helps the student progress.
If your training starts before 2029
Initial training that starts before 1 January 2029 is still accepted, provided the training and the assessment are finished by 30 June 2029.
The rules on virtual training have applied since 13 May 2026, so students, instructors and assessors do not always have to be in the same place.
What it means if you are applying
Neither the regulation nor the report from the workshop mentions selection or aptitude tests.
EASA’s guidance says that training organisations may use aptitude assessments and set educational requirements, and that wording dates from 2015. Which tests you take still depends on where you apply.
The competencies above describe what is trained and assessed after you have been selected. They are not a list of what selection tests measure. Our FEAST practice page shows what that test measures and who uses it.