Mainland Aviation College manager and chief flying instructor John Penno said he had received several complaints from South Dunedin residents about the noise from aircraft this week, but was more concerned about complaints from several pilots who had complained about lasers being shone at them from the city below.
"That can be quite dangerous. It's very distracting to the pilot and it can blind you. It's quite irresponsible," he said.
Mr Penno apologised to Dunedin residents for the noise, but said the circuits were necessary to show inexperienced pilots the dangers of flying in the area at night.
"When you look up the harbour from the south at night, it looks like a big black hole - very similar to the big black hole that is Mt Cargill.
"We don't make a habit of flying over South Dunedin to annoy people. We do it to show people how to fly safely in the area - we don't want people flying into the side of hills."
Jo Law was one of dozens of residents in South Dunedin kept awake by the constant drone of aeroplanes on Tuesday and Wednesday night this week.
"It was horrendous. The noise went on until after 10.30pm. It was a racket.
"You're not allowed to run your lawnmower at that time of day. What makes this any different?"It wouldn't be so bad if they flew right around the city and passed by every half hour. But it was back and forth for hours."
Mr Penno said the college did flight training most nights, and as long as pilots stayed above 3000 feet, they were not breaking any laws.
He believed the spate of complaints was because the weather had been calm and frosty which caused the sound of the aircraft to carry.
"If it's windy, residents don't hear us. So from now on, we will avoid flying on calm nights," he said.
