The FCL.055 exam in Germany: taking the English test
The framework is European, the arrangements are national. Here is the procedure in Germany, with the texts it rests on.
Competent authority
Luftfahrt-Bundesamt (LBA): it recognises and oversees civil language assessment bodies (§ 125a LuftPersV). The endorsement itself, however, is entered by the authority managing the licence — the LBA, but depending on the case also a Land aviation authority — or, for certain re-assessments, by a specifically authorised body (§ 125(2)).
The Bundesnetzagentur, the telecoms regulator, issues radiotelephony certificates and conducts an English language assessment — at level 4 only.
Reference text
The framework is point FCL.055 of Regulation (EU) No 1178/2011. In German law: §§ 125 and 125a of the LuftPersV and its Annex 2, together with the Third Implementing Ordinance of the LBA to the LuftPersV, of 30 May 2017, which governs test content, renewal, recognition of bodies and their oversight.
Two qualifications not to be confused
This is the German specificity, and the most frequent source of confusion: the radiotelephony certificate and the language proficiency endorsement issued under FCL.055 are two distinct qualifications, under different authorities. A certificate allowing English does not replace the language endorsement.
- BZF II — German, VFR, within Germany only.
- BZF I — German and English, VFR.
- BZF E — English, VFR.
- AZF — German and English, VFR and IFR. Requires already holding a BZF II or a BZF I.
- AZF E — English, VFR and IFR. Requires already holding a BZF E.
Test format
The assessment covers listening and speaking, against the six ICAO descriptors. In the Bundesnetzagentur's level 4 procedure, it includes a listening part based on aeronautical recordings, with answers on a form, then a dialogue in English. Bodies recognised by the LBA may follow other procedures, provided these are approved.
Remote assessments exist where the body's procedure has been expressly approved by the LBA. Check that the body and its online method fall within that approval.
Level 6: recognition on documents
§ 125(1) LuftPersV allows expert level to be demonstrated by submitting appropriate documents to the competent authority, without a test. The text sets no single list of items: what the authority managing your licence will require must be checked with it. Declaring a native language is not necessarily enough.
Validity
- Level 4: 4 years. Level 5: 6 years. Level 6: unlimited (unbefristet).
- A procedural specificity: § 125(2) provides that ordinary re-assessment is possible only while the endorsement is still valid. An expired endorsement may therefore call for a different process than a simple renewal — do not let the date pass.
Specific features
- The requirement depends on the language used on the radio, not on nationality: any pilot exercising licence privileges in English must hold both a radio qualification covering English — BZF I, BZF E, AZF, AZF E, or a recognised foreign certificate — and a valid English FCL.055 endorsement.
- Flying in German only remains possible with a BZF II, but restricts radio work to German within Germany.
- The language assessment may be taken before the authority competent for radio certificates, in a form and content agreed with the LBA (§ 125(1)). This does not mean the two examinations are automatically merged: they remain distinct qualifications, sometimes obtained in a coordinated process.
- The first entry of the endorsement on the licence is subject to a fee, per the schedule of the authority managing the licence.