EU law provides for two ways to extend the validity of the A2 drone license:
We generally recommend the first option, as the effort and costs for the A2 revalidation are significantly lower than for renewal.
Whether the A2 drone license can be revalidated or must be renewed depends on whether it is still valid or whether it has already expired:
For the revalidation of the A2 drone license, the candidate undergoes a refresher training. In the online version, for example, the candidate reads a text for each examination area and confirms that he or she has understood the content by answering a control question at the end. A final proctored exam, as with the initial A2 exam, is not required for the refresher course, as it is explicitly a “training course” and not an “exam”.
Participation in refresher training is only possible before the expiry of the A2 drone pilot certificate. After expiry, the A2 remote pilot certificate must be renewed.
The A2 remote pilot certificate must be renewed when the validity of the A2 drone pilot license has expired. In this case, revalidation is no longer possible through training to refresh the learning content. When renewing, the complete A2 examination must be taken again, either online or in a face-to-face examination.
When renewing your A2 certificate, please note that you will probably also have to take the A1/A3 certificate of knowledge test again at the LBA beforehand, as its validity is also limited to 5 years.
For the purpose of completeness, there is a third option to postpone the expiration date of the A2 drone license. Completion of a higher-level drone operator's license automatically extends the validity of the lower-level drone operator's license by 5 years. For example, anyone who holds the A1/A3 certificate of competence can automatically extend its validity by completing the A2 remote pilot certificate. Anyone who already holds the A2 remote pilot certificate can extend the validity of A1/A3 and A2 by 5 years (from the date of passing the STS exam) by completing the STS remote pilot certificate.
The first A2 exams were taken at the end of 2020, meaning that all A2 remote pilot certificates have a minimum validity period until the end of 2025. If you took your exam later, your A2 certificate will be valid for longer. Although there is still time to complete the refresher training, preparations at the German authority LBA (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt) are in full swing to enable practical implementation in a timely manner.
Theoretically, the A2 license can already be extended during its validity period by taking another final examination. However, in our view, this option does not make sense, as revalidation in the form of refresher training is much easier:
We currently expect the refresher courses to be available from June or July 2025. If you wish, you can subscribe to our mailing list now to be informed as soon as the training courses are online.
Because the revalidation of the A2 remote pilot certificate automatically extends the validity of the A1/A3 certificate of competence by 5 years, the refresher training also includes topics from the small A1/A3 drone license:
Basics of aviation administration, the open category and the responsibility of the UAS operator and remote pilot, air safety.
Fundamentals of airspace, taking into account special airspaces and in particular geographical UAS areas.
Procedures from pre-flight, in-flight with normal, contingency and emergency procedures, Incident and accident reporting.
Weather impact on the drone operation (e.g. wind, temperature, air density, visibility), obtaining weather forecasts.
Typical flight envelope of unmanned aerial vehicles, mass, balance and center of gravity, securing the payload, batteries.
Functions in slow-speed mode, estimation of distance to people, 1:1 rule.