Regarding the bases, being an Spanish guy wouldn't worry that much about the southern Europe bases, kind of prefer it actually.
I talked to a friend of a friend, just yesterday, it took 6 months for him to upgrade to the LHS which honestly doesn't seam to match what we're reading here.
I guess is a matter of timing and base.
Nevermind, got an idea. Let's say something around the year or year and a half. Obviously considering you get through all training and sims, quite an industry standard I would say.