Wellington  - New Zealand immigration officials refused entry to three men from an unnamed Middle East country who applied to train for a commercial pilot's licence, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Penny Simmonds, chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology, Invercargill, told the Southland Times the immigration service gave no reason for refusing visas to three of six Middle Eastern applicants for the course.

She said the institute offered the cheapest commercial airline course in the world and had attracted a variety of candidates from India and the Middle East.

Simmonds said applicants were "well scrutinised" by government departments. (dpa)