Yes AQC counts as an MCC, but I believe you cannot book it now 'off the street' so to speak. You have to go through selection and wait for a course, like everyone else now. Catch 22 being you need a CPL/IR to go for it, so you could be waiting a long time for the 'MCC' bit you need.
Previously, even if you did AQC off your own back, i.e. if you hadn't gone through selection you still needed to at the end, should you have been successful to get into the ATP holding pool.