Which Airlines Use the DLR Test? DACH and Worldwide

Search for "DLR test" and you soon land on lists showing a dozen airline logos. Lufthansa, SWISS, Condor, Turkish Airlines, Cargolux: all of them supposedly select their pilots using the procedures of the German Aerospace Center. The problem is that DLR itself publishes no client list. Its certificate page only says that commissioning DLR with selection has proved its worth "for many airlines and flight schools".

The logo lists almost always come from companies selling preparation software. They have an understandable interest in a long list and don't always update it when an airline changes contractor. For this article we therefore opened several airlines' career pages ourselves in September 2026.

The result is mixed: one route is cleanly documented, several claims could not be confirmed, and in at least one case the airline says the opposite of what the lists claim. As an independent app we are affiliated with neither DLR nor any airline; the current job posting is always what counts.

Which airlines use the DLR test?

Officially documented is the DLR test as the first step towards the flight decks of the Lufthansa Group: the European Flight Academy (EFA) requires the DLR certificate before you apply. For all other airlines there are only provider overviews and candidate reports, some of which contradict what the airlines themselves state.

The evidence falls into three tiers:

• Documented: the airline or flight school names the DLR test on its own site. This applies to EFA and therefore to the ab initio route to Lufthansa, SWISS, Edelweiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and other group airlines.
• According to third parties: preparation providers such as pilotest.com or Easyflight Training list the airline, but we found no official confirmation.
• Contradictory or refuted: sources disagree, or the airline officially describes a different procedure.

The compact version of this answer is on the question page Which airlines require the DLR test?.

How does the DLR certificate differ from airline-specific DLR procedures?

The DLR Pilot Certificate is a transferable document that you book and pay for yourself and can submit for two years wherever it is accepted. An airline-specific procedure is commissioned by the airline, counts only for that application and ends with a yes or a no.

Source: DLR's certificate page and EFA, as of September 2026.

The certificate assesses four areas based on EASA criteria: basic cognitive abilities, operational and professional competencies, personality, and social competencies. Which ratings are enough is decided by each airline or flight school. More under What is the DLR certificate?.

Note that "transferable" doesn't mean "accepted everywhere". For all further steps DLR explicitly refers you to the flight school or airline you are applying to. And as the Condor example below shows, an airline can also expressly decline the certificate.

Which Lufthansa Group airlines require the DLR test?

For entry without a licence, the route to every Lufthansa Group airline runs through the European Flight Academy, whose selection starts with the DLR certificate. This is the best-documented statement in this article, because it comes from EFA's own site.

EFA's five steps: 1) DLR certificate with the required rating, bookable in the EFA web shop for Hamburg, Milan or Zurich, 2) application to EFA, 3) Lufthansa Group assessment centre with interviews, group exercises and psychomotor tests, 4) Class 1 medical, 5) airline fit after training, i.e. the hiring interview with a group airline. According to EFA's FAQ, graduates can apply to all Lufthansa Group airlines, provided there is demand and they meet the individual requirements. By name, the EFA site mentions sponsorship programmes from SWISS and Edelweiss, Eurowings and Austrian Airlines.

Switzerland has one special rule: according to EFA, holders of the SPHAIR certificate don't need a DLR test. Details for both countries are in How to become a Lufthansa pilot via EFA and How to become a SWISS pilot.

The DLR test is only the first hurdle here. The assessment centre that follows is not run by DLR but, according to EFA, by Interpersonal GmbH or SWISS Flight Crew Assessment. What happens after the certificate is described in Passed the DLR test: what comes next?.

DLR also plays a part for already licensed pilots (ready entry) in the group, though only a third-party source documents it: according to the preparation provider Easyflight Training, a DLR test is the first stage at Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa City Airlines, as well as at the operator Platoon Aviation.

Which other airlines use DLR procedures according to provider lists?

According to pilotest.com, TUIfly, Condor, SunExpress, Turkish Airlines, AeroLogic, Cargolux, Air Dolomiti and Royal Jordanian use or have used DLR procedures alongside the Lufthansa Group. We could not officially confirm any of these in September 2026, and Condor and Cargolux themselves describe something different.

All entries as of September 2026. "Mentions no DLR test" doesn't mean none takes place: job postings often list only the formal requirements, and the details arrive with the invitation.

AeroLogic and SunExpress. Both have ties to the Lufthansa world: AeroLogic is a joint venture of Lufthansa Cargo and DHL, SunExpress one of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. That makes DLR procedures plausible, but it is not evidence. The AeroLogic first officer posting we checked and SunExpress's cockpit portal list only licence, hours and language requirements.

TUIfly, Turkish Airlines, Royal Jordanian. We found neither confirmation nor denial on official pages. Treat the claim as a pointer, not a fact.

Where do the sources contradict each other?

For Condor, Cargolux, Luxair and ITA Airways. These cases show why checking the original source pays off before you invest in the wrong preparation.

Condor. The airline is on almost every provider list. Yet the Condor Career Center says, in German: "Bitte beachten Sie, dass Condor DLR-Zertifikate weder im positiven noch im negativen Fall anerkennt", meaning Condor recognises DLR certificates neither when positive nor when negative. According to the same FAQ, the first stage of the ab initio programme is a basic qualification at Interpersonal GmbH in Hamburg, which you pay for yourself, and the second a corporate qualification at Condor. If Condor is your only target, you don't need a DLR certificate, and if you have one, you can't use it there.

Cargolux. The official site describes five stages: application, aptitude tests, assessment centre, around 45 minutes in a simulator and an interview. It says the psychometric tests were tailored specifically to Cargolux by an experienced aviation psychologist. DLR is not mentioned.

Luxair. According to pilotest.com, Luxair used to outsource selection to DLR and now uses cut-e tests. Easyflight Training, by contrast, still describes DLR stages for the cadet programme, and in 2026 candidates on YouTube report sitting the DLR certificate for Luxair. Luxair's public pilot page names no test provider. The procedure may differ by programme and intake; you will only know for certain once you hold the invitation.

ITA Airways. Videos from 2026 describe the DLR test as the first hurdle in ITA's selection, while pilotassessments.com lists Aon/cut-e tests for ITA. It fits that EFA names Milan as a DLR test location, but that proves nothing about ITA.

Such contradictions usually have innocent causes: airlines change contractors, cadet and direct-entry programmes differ, and old web pages stay online. So read experience reports with an eye on the date; see DLR test experiences.

Who uses DLR procedures outside the airlines?

Chiefly DFS, Germany's air navigation service provider, for trainee air traffic controllers, with a different profile from the cockpit. According to AERO International of 12 November 2025, an online assessment there is followed by a two-part examination at DLR in Hamburg.

DLR itself states that its Hamburg test centre assesses up to 10,000 applicants a year for aerospace professions, astronauts included. Easyflight Training additionally names ADAC Luftrettung (air rescue) and the German police helicopter squadrons as users of DLR tests. Depending on the procedure, further test names listed by providers crop up, such as ROT, SFT, VFF, VLR, DRT or MEK.

For some, air traffic control is also a plan B. The pros and cons are in DLR rating not good enough: retake or plan B?.

How do I find out which test my airline uses?

Read the current job posting and the invitation, and if in doubt ask recruitment. Everything else, this article included, is a snapshot.

1. Open the airline's career page and FAQ. Search for "DLR", "Interpersonal", "cut-e", "Aon" or "assessment". At Condor the decisive information sits in a single FAQ sentence.
2. Watch the wording. "DLR certificate" means the transferable document. "Examination at DLR" can be an airline-specific procedure for which your certificate doesn't count.
3. Check the date. Forum posts and provider pages without a date are worth little for this question.
4. Read the invitation closely. It names the test provider, place, duration and usually the access to official preparation material.
5. Ask. A short, polite email to recruitment settles more than evenings in a forum.

For your preparation the question is less delicate than it seems. Working memory, mental arithmetic, spatial reasoning, instrument reading and divided attention are tested in almost every procedure, whoever provides it. Training with the DLR Test Trainer or other practice software is not wasted if your airline ends up testing differently; you practise the exact format with the official material anyway. For an overview of all test parts, see the complete DLR test guide.

Sources

• DLR: Pilot Certificate (German)
• DLR: test centre for aviation and space psychology in Hamburg (German)
• European Flight Academy: selection process
• European Flight Academy: FAQ
• Condor Career Center: FAQ on the selection process (German)
• Cargolux: requirements and selection process
• pilotest.com: overview of DLR tests and airlines (French)
• Easyflight Training: cadet pilot programmes 2026