EASA and EUROCONTROL brought together national competent authorities for a two-day ATCO CBTA Workshop on 27 and 28 October 2026, aimed at preparing regulators across Europe for a significant change in how air traffic controllers are trained and licensed. The event was held at EUROCONTROL's Aviation Learning Centre.
The workshop centred on an amendment to EU ATCO Licensing Regulation (EU) 2015/340, according to EASA. From 1 January 2029, that amendment will introduce competency-based training and assessment (CBTA) requirements for initial training, operational ATS units, and ATCO training organisations.
What the ATCO CBTA Workshop Covered
The principal focus for national competent authority (NCA) participants was the practical reality of overseeing the CBTA transition, EASA reports. Delegates discussed both the challenges and the opportunities that come with managing regulatory oversight of a change of this scale. Contributors at the workshop included CANSO, the GATE Training Organisation, EUROCONTROL's Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre, the Belgian Supervisory Authority, and the Irish Aviation Authority.
The breadth of contributors reflects how far-reaching the 2029 requirement will be. CBTA shifts training programmes away from fixed hours and syllabi toward demonstrating defined competencies, which requires both training organisations and their regulators to adapt how they design, deliver and scrutinise instruction.
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What EASA and EUROCONTROL Have Committed To
Both organisations declared their readiness to support implementation of the workshop conclusions, EASA confirmed. They also agreed to integrate those conclusions into European network-level activities addressing the wider air traffic controller workforce challenge across the continent.
That commitment to network-level integration is notable. The ATCO workforce has been under significant pressure across Europe in recent years, with staffing shortages contributing to delays at major hubs. Embedding CBTA conclusions into network planning suggests both organisations see training reform as part of the structural answer to that pressure, not merely a regulatory formality.
What Comes Next
The 1 January 2029 deadline gives training organisations and national authorities a little over two years to put the new CBTA framework into practice, as EASA notes. The workshop was designed to give NCAs a clearer understanding of what the amended regulation requires of them and of the bodies they oversee.
With EASA and EUROCONTROL both committed to supporting implementation, national authorities now have a clearer pathway toward compliance. The conclusions from the October workshop are expected to feed into European network-level planning, meaning the outcomes will extend beyond individual states.
The Bottom Line
The October 2026 workshop marks a practical step toward the 2029 CBTA deadline, bringing regulators, training bodies and oversight authorities into a shared understanding of what the transition demands. The involvement of organisations from across the sector, from CANSO to the Irish Aviation Authority, signals that implementation will be a collective effort rather than a country-by-country exercise. Whether the runway between now and January 2029 proves long enough will depend on how quickly training organisations and their national regulators can adapt their oversight frameworks to the new competency-based model.
This article draws on information from EASA news.
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