Expert: David A. NewMyer - 12/5/2010

Question
Am a south african citizanship and i am 19 years of age.i am interested in pursuring a career in aviation as a pilot.but i am not aware of what degree to be studied for my career of choice,please inform me of the course/degree to have.also i know that you are a specialist with u.s.universities but i was wondering if you know of any good aviatiom universities in my country.any information will be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi, Boikanyo:

It is nice to hear from you---thank you for your question.

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any universities or colleges that offer aviation courses or programs in South Africa.  There ARE a number of private institutions that offer flight training for pilots and four examples are listed below as follows (in no particular order):

1.  43 Air School in Port Alfred, South Africa:  www.43airschool.co.za

2.  Lanseria Flight Centre, Lanseria, South Africa:  www.flylfc.com

3.  Pretoria Flying School, Pretoria, South Africa:  www.pfs.co.za

4.  ApTracAviation, Walmer (Port Elizabeth Airport), South Africa:  
www.aptrac.com

Again, these are private flight schools and are not universities or colleges.  There are others to choose from as well, just do an internet search to find more via Google or some other search engine.  I have no way to rate these schools as to their quality; however, you might ask the South African Civil Aviation Authority about their respective records.

With regard to universities in other nations that offer aviation training, there are schools in several nations including Australia (Griffiths University), New Zealand (Massey University), the United Kingdom (London Metropolitan University and Coventry University), Canada (University of Western Ontario and Seneca College) and the USA (see the listing at the website of the University Aviation Association at www.uaa.aero and then go to the link for Colleges and Universities on the left hand side of the main page).  There are a number of schools that cater to international students among the schools listed by the UAA including the University of North Dakota, Western Michigan University and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.  

I am sorry that I could not be of more help to you, but, I just could not find any aviation universities in South Africa.

Best wishes,

David A. NewMyer, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Aviation Management and Flight
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
http://www.aviation.siuc.edu