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FCL.900 Instructor certificates

ANNEX I (Part-FCL) · Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 · EAR revision 25 Nov 2025

IRImplementing rule

FCL.900Instructor certificates

(a)General. A person shall only carry out:

(1)flight instruction in aircraft when he/she holds:

(i)a pilot licence issued or accepted in accordance with this Regulation;

(ii)an instructor certificate appropriate to the instruction given, issued in accordance with this Subpart;

(2)synthetic flight instruction or MCC instruction when he/she holds an instructor certificate appropriate to the instruction given, issued in accordance with this Subpart.

(b)Special conditions:

(1)The competent authority may issue a specific certificate granting privileges for flight instruction when compliance with the requirements established in this Subpart is not possible in the case of the introduction of:

(i)new aircraft in the Member States or in an operator's fleet; or

(ii)new training courses in this Annex (Part-FCL). Such a certificate shall be limited to the training flights necessary for the introduction of the new type of aircraft or the new training course and its validity shall not, in any case, exceed 1 year.;

(2)Holders of a certificate issued in accordance with (b)(1) who wish to apply for the issue of an instructor certificate shall comply with the prerequisites and revalidation requirements established for that category of instructor. Notwithstanding FCL.905.TRI(b), a TRI certificate issued in accordance with this (sub)paragraph will include the privilege to instruct for the issue of a TRI or SFI certificate for the relevant type.

(c)Instruction provided outside the territory of the Member States:

(1)By way of derogation from point (a), in the case of flight instruction provided during a training course approved in accordance with this Annex outside the territory for which Member States are responsible under the Chicago Convention, the competent authority shall issue an instructor certificate to applicants who:

(i)holds a pilot licence that meets all of the following criteria:

(A)it complies with Annex 1 to the Chicago Convention;

(B)in any case, it is at least a CPL in the relevant aircraft category with a relevant rating or certificate;

(ii)complies with the requirements established in this Subpart for the issue of the relevant instructor certificate;

(iii)demonstrates to the competent authority an adequate level of knowledge of European aviation safety rules to be able to exercise instructional privileges in accordance with this Annex.

(2)The certificate shall be limited to providing flight instruction during a training course approved in accordance with this Annex which meets all of the following conditions:

(i)it is provided outside the territory for which Member States are responsible under the Chicago Convention;

(ii)it is provided to student pilots who have sufficient knowledge of the language in which flight instruction is provided.

IR · FCL.900 — Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 · Regulation (EU) 2019/1747 · Aircrew Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 25 Nov 2025

GMGuidance material

GM1 FCL.900Instructor certificates

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GENERAL

(a)Nine instructor categories are recognised:

(1)FI certificate: aeroplane (FI(A)), helicopter (FI(H)) and airship (FI(As));

(2)TRI certificate: aeroplane (TRI(A)), helicopter (TRI(H)), powered-lift aircraft (TRI(PL));

(3)CRI certificate: aeroplane (CRI(A));

(4)IRI certificate: aeroplane (IRI(A)), helicopter (IRI(H)) and airship (IRI(As));

(5)SFI certificate: aeroplane (SFI(A)), helicopter (SFI(H)) and poweredlift aircraft (SFI(PL));

(6)MCCI certificate: aeroplanes (MCCI(A)), helicopters (MCCI(H)), powered-lift aircraft(MCCI(PL)) and airships (MCCI(As));

(7)STI certificate: aeroplane (STI(A)) and helicopter (STI(H));

(8)MI certificate: (MI);

(9)FTI certificate: (FTI).

(b)For categories (1) to (4) and for (8) and (9) the applicant needs to hold a pilot licence. For categories (5) to (7) no licence is needed, only an instructor certificate.

(c)A person may hold more than one instructor certificate.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

(a)When new aircraft are introduced, requirements such as to hold a licence and rating equivalent to the one for which instruction is being given, or to have adequate flight experience, may not be possible to comply with. In this case, to allow for the first instruction courses to be given to applicants for licences or ratings for these aircraft, competent authorities need the possibility to issue a specific certificate that does not have to comply with the requirements established in this Subpart.

(b)The competent authority should only give these certificates to holders of other instruction qualifications. As far as possible, preference should be given to persons with at least 100 hours of experience in similar types or classes of aircraft.

(c)When the new aircraft type introduced in an operator’s fleet already existed in a Member State, the competent authority should only give the specific certificate to an applicant that is qualified as PIC on that aircraft.

(d)The certificate should ideally be limited in validity to the time needed to qualify the first instructors for the new aircraft in accordance with this Subpart, but in any case it should not exceed the 1 year established in the rule.

GM · GM1 FCL.900 — Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 · ED Decision 2025/002/R · Aircrew Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 25 Nov 2025

GMGuidance material

GM1 FCL.900(c); FCL.1000(c) Instruction or examination outside the territory of the Member States

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Instruction or examination outside the territory of the Member States is possible within the scope of: ATOs that have their principal place of business outside the territory of the Member States; or ATOs that have their principal place of business in a Member State and one or more additional training sites outside the territory of the Member States.

GM · GM1 FCL.900(c) — Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 · ED Decision 2020/005/R · Aircrew Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 25 Nov 2025

GMGuidance material

GM1 FCL.900(c)(1)Instructor certificates

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INSTRUCTION OUTSIDE THE TERRITORY OF THE MEMBER STATES The competent authority may issue an unrestricted flight instructor (FI) certificate (FI(A) for aeroplanes or FI(H) for helicopters) to an applicant that has at least 100 hours of experience in flight instruction and 25 hours in solo-flight supervision.

GM · GM1 FCL.900(c)(1) — Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011 · ED Decision 2020/005/R · Aircrew Easy Access Rules · EAR revision 25 Nov 2025

All rules in SUBPART J – INSTRUCTORS

Consolidated from the EASA Easy Access Rules (revision 25 Nov 2025, extracted 17 Aug 2026) for convenience. Not the official publication — verify against the Official Journal of the European Union and the EASA publications before operational use.

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