Air Transport Pilot – Bachelor of Aviation

All Bachelor of Aviation students undertake a full-time qualification. In your first year you will take twelve 15-credit courses, making a total of 180 credits.

All your courses in Year One and Year Two are compulsory.

Meeting requirements for industry membership

Becoming a pilot

To become a pilot you will need to complete this qualification, comprising a total of 480 credits as outlined on this page.

At the completion of 360 credits in this qualification, you will have met the requirements for the award of a New Zealand Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) with Multi-Engine and Instrument Rating, plus hold credits for all New Zealand Air Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) Theory examinations.

To gain your full APTL, you will also need to complete practical experience as outlined on the aviation.govt.nz website.

Official regulations

To understand what you need to study and must complete to graduate read the official rules and regulations for this qualification.

You should read these together with all other relevant Statutes and Regulations of the University including the General Regulations for Undergraduate Degrees, Undergraduate Diplomas, Undergraduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas and Graduate Certificates.

Returning students

For returning students, there may be changes to the majors and minors available and the courses you need to take. You can go to the section called ‘Transitional Provisions’ in the Regulations to find out more.

In some cases the qualification or specialisation you enrolled in may be no longer be taking new enrolments, so may not appear on these web pages. To find information on the regulations for these qualifications go to the Massey University Calendar.

Please contact us through the Get advice button on this page if you have any questions.

Admission to Massey

All students must meet university entrance requirements to be admitted to the University.

• Massey University entry requirements

Specific requirements

This programme is a selected entry qualification. This means there are a number of extra requirements you must meet.

To enter the Bachelor of Aviation, you must pass NCEA Level 3/Year 13 or equivalent in an ‘English-rich’ subject. These include one of the following:

• classical studies
• English
• geography
• history
• history of art
• media studies
• religious education (RE)
• business studies
• biology
• economics.

We highly recommend that you have passed Mathematics (Calculus) and Physics at NCEA Level 3/Year 13 or equivalent.

When you first apply online you need to:

• provide a CV including academic and work history
• have completed a trial flight
• provide any information of circumstances in your past personal or professional life that might make you ineligible to train for, or hold, a professional pilots licence in New Zealand (see below for more information).

If you already have a NZCAA Class One Medical Certificate please also upload a copy with your application. But this is not essential for your initial application.

There are two more stages to the application process:

Stage One

You will take and pass an online ‘ADAPT’ test. See below for information.

Before Stage Two

Before you will be considered by selection board in Stage Two, you will have:

• taken at least one trial (experience) flight
• pre-booked your medical appointments (with both an approved medical examiner and optometrist) to gain the NZCAA Class One Medical Certificate for no later than one week after your selection board appointment.

Stage Two

Your application will be assessed, and you may then be invited to the ‘selection board’. This involves:

• taking part in an panel interview
• passing pilot aptitude assessments - including a flight simulator aptitude test , psychometric and physics tests
• completing two writing tasks: English language competency tests (an essay and a vocabulary test) and a multi-choice maths / physics (‘aeroscience’ ) assessment.

Before you start

Once you are successful in gaining a place in the Bachelor of Aviation qualification you will also need to complete further tasks. These include:

• passing an NZCAA class one medical certificate, or have booked a test

• completing a 'Fit and Proper Person' assessment. This is to comply with the Civil Aviation Act 1990, Section 9. You must provide an up-to-date criminal convictions report and obtain an offence history report from Land Transport New Zealand, or from any other country resided in over the last five years.

Application closing date

Applications for a Semester One start close on 1 November 2023 for domestic students and 1 October 2023 for international students.

Applications for a Semester Two start close on 1 May 2024 for domestic students and 1 April 2024 for international students.

English language requirements

To study this qualification you must meet Massey University's English language standards. Where English is not your first language, you must have achieved an Academic IELTS of 6.5 with no band below 6.0, or equivalent.

• Massey University English language requirements.

ADAPT Test

As Massey is an Air NZ Preferred Flight Training Organisation all prospective candidates must complete the ‘ADAPT’ pilot pre-screening tool.

Candidates will receive a code to complete the ADAPT assessment three months prior to their Stage Two assessments. Payment for the assessment must be made in advance through the Massey University student portal. Please contact Sherryn Irvine at S.L.Irvine@massey.ac.nz for further details.

You are required to meet a satisfactory standard in this test in order to be invited to the next stage of the selection process.

Trial flights

If you are living in New Zealand, you are required to have taken at least one trial (experience) flight before your selection board appointment is confirmed. This is to give you an understanding of what it is like to fly in a small aircraft. Trial flights experiences can be flexible (eg taken at any New Zealand flight training organisation), with pilot friends, or at the annual Massey University Aviation Open Day.

Selection board

Selection boards are held twice a year:

• early December immediately after NCEA examinations (for applicants wishing to commence in the following January)
• the last week of May for applicants wishing to commence in July).

Once you apply for this qualification you will be advised of the exact date of your selection board appointment.

If you are invited to the selection board interview you must appear in person. This is held at the Massey University School of Aviation campus, 47 Airport Drive, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

NZCAA Class One Medical Certificate

You must obtain a NZCAA Class One Medical Certificate before being confirmed into the Bachelor of Aviation. If you do not already hold this, you must have pre-booked your medical appointments (with both an approved medical examiner and optometrist) for no later than one week after your selection board appointment.

Confirmation of medical appointment booking must be provided before your  selection appointment will be confirmed.

If you have a NZCAA Class One Medical Certificate please upload a copy with your application.

• Information on Medical Certificates

‘Fit and Proper Person’ (FPP) assessment

Are there any circumstances in your past personal or professional life that might make you ineligible to train for, or hold, a professional pilots licence in New Zealand?   If so, please provide a Ministry of Justice and / or a Ministry of Transport report. This information should be uploaded when submitting your application. This information will be confidential to those staff assessing your qualification.

Once enrolled in this qualification you will also be required to apply for a 'Fit and Proper Person' (FPP) assessment. This is to comply with the Civil Aviation Act 1990, Section 9. You must provide an up to date criminal convictions report and obtain an offence history report from Land Transport NZ, or from any other country resided in over the last five years.

You will be  required to declare any traffic or criminal offences at your selection board appointment. This will enable us to advise you  if there may be a barrier to your gaining the required FPP approval from the  NZ Civil Aviation Authority in future which will then prevent you from being able to continue your flight training programme.

During the programme the obligation continues

Once you are assessed as having FPP status it is your obligation to maintain this status. For example, if you gain a conviction for drunk driving (or other serious or serial offending)  that  breaches the 'Fit and Proper Person' criteria whilst on this programme, and you lose your FPP status,  your training will be unable to proceed.

Short or long term disability, including learning disability, or health issues

If any of the above apply to you, please upload a summary of what these are, how they are being managed and any support you believe you may need during your study/training. Your responses are confidential to University staff processing your application.

Application deadlines for the Air Transport Pilot qualification

	January commencement		July commencement
	Domestic students	International students	Domestic students	International students
Apply online	Due 1 November	Due 1 October	Due 1 May	Due 1 April
ADAPT test	Due 5 November	Due 5 October	Due 1 May	Due 1 April
Selection Board	Early December	Early November	Early June	Early May
NZCAA Class One Medical Certificate	Due start of January		Due start of July
University Entrance	Submit when exam results released – NCEA results published early January. ICE and IB results also released in January		Evidence of UE status must be submitted no later than 30 June
Orientation	Mid-January		Mid-July

English language skills

If you need help with your English language skills before you start university, see our English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.

Can't meet the entry requirements?

If you need to do a course before you start your programme, there may be options for you in Summer School.

• Summer School

Fees, student loans and free fees scheme

Your tuition fees may be different depending on the courses you choose. Your exact fees will show once you have chosen your courses.

There will also be some compulsory non-tuition fees and for some courses, there may also be charges for things such as study resources, software, trips and contact workshops.

• Get an estimate of the tuition fees for your qualification
• View a list of non-tuition fees that may be payable

Already know which courses you're going to choose?

You can view fees for the courses that make up your qualification on the course details pages.

• Course search

Student loans (StudyLink) and Fees Free scheme

You may be eligible for a student loan to help towards paying your fees.

The New Zealand Government offers fees-free tertiary study for eligible domestic students. Find out more about the scheme and your eligibility on the Fees Free website. To use the site's eligibility checking tool, you will need your National Student Number.

Current and returning Massey students can find their National Student Number in the student portal.

• Student loans (StudyLink)
• Fees Free
• Student portal

Scholarship and award opportunities

Search our scholarships and awards

A career as a pilot is exciting and highly sought-after.

The Bachelor of Aviation (Air Transport Pilot) opens up opportunities to become airline pilots or any other potential career within the aviation industry.

Many graduates work as flight instructors in New Zealand or Australia, enabling them to build on their instructional techniques expertise which is a valuable skill for those who eventually decide to take up a role as an Airline Training Captain.

You may wish to progress to key management or training positions for an airline or with international bodies such as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) or the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Postgraduate study in aviation would be worth considering if you intend to follow this path.

New Zealand is a great place to study. Massey University’s reputation is supported by our international rankings, accreditations and associations. We are rated five star plus by the QS World University Rankings.

Massey University has small class sizes, and our lecturers and staff are friendly and approachable.

As an international student, there are entry requirements that will apply to you. We recommend that you apply at least three months before your anticipated start date so your application can be processed in time. There are additional steps you will need to take. These include obtaining a visa and travel bookings as your study will be in New Zealand.

• Find out more about life as an international student at Massey, applying to Massey and getting help.
• Entry requirements for international students.