Mainland Aviation College, Waihola

About Mainland Aviation College

Mainland Aviation College (trading as Mainland Air) is a flight training school and charter airline based at Dunedin International Airport. It was founded in 1991 by Tim and Bronwyn Fleming, initially operating with two Seneca aircraft and three Cessna trainers.

The college has passed through several owners since its founding. The current owners are Phil and Shirley Kean, who purchased the business in 2013. Phil Kean had previously joined Mainland as a pilot in 2007.

In 2005, Mainland received NZQA accreditation for a Level 5 Diploma in Aviation and became the first aviation school in New Zealand to install a CAA-approved flight simulator. That same year, student loans became available to aviation students in New Zealand. International students first enrolled in 2007.

Alongside flight training, the college has operated commercial contracts, including courier flights for New Zealand Post between Dunedin and Christchurch from 1995 to 2006, and Air Ambulance Patient Transfers for the Southern District Health Board over a 20-year period beginning in 2000.

Programmes and Qualifications

Mainland Aviation College offers the following named programmes and qualifications:

• Private Pilot's Licence (PPL) — licence — no fixed duration stated; minimum 50 hours flight time required
• Commercial Pilot's Licence (CPL) — licence — 32–36 weeks full time, or part time over a longer period
• Instrument Rating (IR) — additional rating — 5 weeks (excluding theory)
• Instructor Rating (C-Cat) — rating — 12 weeks minimum full time
• NZ Diploma in Aviation — diploma — approximately 18 months; includes a Private Pilot's Licence, Commercial Pilot's Licence, Multi-Engine Instrument Rating, and Dangerous Goods Course
• Diploma in Aviation Science (Flight Instructing) — diploma — optional add-on to the NZ Diploma in Aviation
• Diploma in Aviation Science (Air Transport (ATPL)) — diploma — optional add-on to the NZ Diploma in Aviation; completing a further four Aviation Science papers and one project leads to a Bachelor in Aviation Science

International Students

MAC offers international students a full range of courses. The primary pathway for international students is a Diploma, described as taking approximately 18 months from no prior experience. A minimum course duration of 12 months applies. International students require a New Zealand Immigration Student Visa.

Accommodation is available at Burns Lodge, located in Mosgiel, Dunedin, approximately ten minutes from the Mainland Air hangar. Further details about international student enrolment are available on the MAC website.

Subject area: Aviation

The Ministry of Education groups Mainland Aviation College under Aviation — the broad field of education and training it's classified under in the official tertiary directory.

Aviation

Address

Where Mainland Aviation College is based, taken directly from the Ministry of Education's own address record for this provider.

• StreetWaihola Airport Drive
• CityWaihola
• Postcode9243
• Territorial authorityClutha District
• RegionOtago Region

No coordinates are published for tertiary providers in this dataset, so no map is shown here.

Contact Mainland Aviation College

Find the published contact details for Mainland Aviation College, including its phone number, website and other available contact information.

• Phone+64 3 486 2189
• Fax03-4862189
• Websitewww.mainlandair.com

Contact details combine official Ministry of Education records with information published on Mainland Aviation College's own website, reviewed by the KuraData team on 22 September 2026.

Other Aviation providers

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