Southern Wings offers professional pilot training for a wide range of students. From pilots preparing for an airline career, mountain flying, and instructor ratings through to private or commercial pilot licensing, Southern Wings is known for its ability to deliver superior quality pilots who are well equipped to deal with the changing demands of the aviation industry.

Committed to excellence the Southern Wings aviation training school is fully equipped with a well-maintained fleet of fixed-wing aircraft suitable for all training purposes. Simulators are also available in both the Invercargill and Auckland bases along with comfortable teaching facilities.

Air New Zealand announced its partnership with Southern Wings as a flight training organization (PFTO) partner in April 2011 following a rigorous selection process to validate its current training programmes and quality systems and to confirm its ability to adopt airline-styled selection criteria.

We are proud to be one of New Zealand’s leading flight training schools, with a long-standing reputation for providing high-quality pilots to the aviation industry.

In August 2014 we opened our second base at Ardmore Airport in Auckland. The renowned courses on offer in Invercargill are replicated in Auckland so you can be assured of a high-quality platform to launch your aviation career. We operate our Auckland and Invercargill bases as one operation and our students get the best of flying in both environments, which gives our students a huge advantage in becoming employable pilots.

Flight training at our Ardmore base provides busy airspace, and city flying, not to mention, it’s a great place for a plane spotter, especially if you love Warbirds and small jets. Ardmore’s location offers short flying times to the North Island’s gems like the Coromandel, Tauranga, Rotorua, the Bay of Islands, Taupo, and the Bay of Plenty. As part of your training, you will also experience flying out of our Invercargill base to obtain the latter half of your Instrument Rating and complete your Mountain Flying requirements.

Fully qualified and trained instructors, personalised service with deliberately small class sizes, and both practical and theory qualifications that are highly valued by those in the aviation industry are all features you’ll enjoy when you land a place with Southern Wings. Our Auckland flight school facilities include two classrooms, a flight planning room, a simulator room and there is also an excellent café on site with airside tables to assist with plane spotting whilst you enjoy a coffee.