Looking to Convert to EASA with Austrocontrol but i heard some pretty bad stuff.

[flywith_neil]

Hi.

Getting married soon and i can get an EU passport through the wife so decided to pull the trigger on the 14 exams just in case.

I found Austrocontrol and their exam center in South Africa would be perfect, since im flying there for work several times a month anyway. But was chatting with some guys about my plans and now the second person mentioned that apparently several companies do not accept their certificate? So i did some digging, this school they were working with had this posted on their website:

Following the recent incident of cheating by an organised criminal network that took place during the Austro Control examinations in our facilities, Austro Control and Global Aviation have jointly decided to suspend all new applications from non-Global Aviation students until further notice. Students of other ATOs who have already begun their examinations will be exempted from this measure.

Its removed but with wayback machine you can still see the post on their website. Does anyone have more info about this? It would suck big time to do the theory exams if its worthless. Or is this the only school affected?

Is there any other EASA authority that is doing exams outside of EU in case this ends up being confirmed?

Any info is appreciated because this is a pretty big red flag.

[paco]

If you look at the Austro website you should find a list of authorised exam centres.

[IreallyLikePotatos]

There was one big scandal about a year ago with some students using a specific examination centre in Greece to cheat.
This lead to Austro examination centres being temporarily suspended in Greece, and a lot of drama. Most of this drama has now subsided.

Austro was, and continues to be one of the most reputable CAAs, and their theory certificates should be accepted by any ATO worth their salt.
Companies generally don't care about which CAA you did your theory module with.

Good luck!

[Hawkers]

Is there any other EASA authority that is doing exams outside of EU in case this ends up being confirmed?

That thing was most probably a one off with Austro, you shouldn't worry. But to answer your question yes, the Romanian CAA has several exam centers outside of Europe in co-coperation with a flight school.

https://www.easy-pilot.com/convert-to-easa

[flywith_neil]

Yeah i actually went with them and did my first sitting. Decent price, no hassle, location is a bit far from the city center but no complaints. From May onward they will have exams every month. They also opened an exam center in Morocco so i can really recommend Easy-Pilot for EASA Conversion.