Air China Send 57 Additional Students to UND Aerospace

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
Contact: Karen Ryba/Phone: 701-777-4761
November 21, 2007

Air China Sends 57 Additional Students to UND Aerospace

(Grand Forks, North Dakota): The University of North Dakota’s (UND’s) John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences announces the signing of an agreement between the UND Aerospace Foundation (Grand Forks, USA) and Air China (Beijing, China) to educate student pilots. UND Aerospace currently has 17 Air China students in their program. The new agreement signed in Beijing last week by Dr. Bruce Smith, President of the UND Aerospace Foundation/Dean of the Odegard School and Captain Jin, Air China Director of Flight Technology Management, will bring an additional 57 student pilots to UND in early January 2008.

Chuck Pineo, Vice President of Business Development, commented, “Air China is a world renowned airline and this commitment confirms their confidence in UND’s programs, faculty and flight instructors. We appreciate our relationship with Air China and look forward to welcoming the students to Grand Forks in January.”

In addition to academics, Air China students will each complete a 250 hour ab initio flight training program which includes 20 hours of flight in a King Air 200 turbo-prop aircraft. Upon completion of the 12 month program, the students return to the Air China Training Facility in Beijing for advanced simulator training.

About Air China
Air China is a world-leading air transportation provider. Headquartered in Beijing, China, Air China is the only air carrier in China eligible to fly with the national flag on their aircraft. In addition to Beijing, Air China has several branches in Zhejiang, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Guizhou, Tibet, and a Shanghai and Huanan base. Air China has been selected as the sole and formal airline partner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

With the highest ranking brand value among all Chinese airlines, Air China is honored to provide air transportation service for all Chinese national leaders who go abroad and for visiting foreign and governmental leaders for their Chinese visits. Air China’s code sharing relationships with 18 airlines (adding 157 routes, 2914 weekly flights to its network, which covers 14 countries, two regions and 84 cities) in addition to its hubs in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, provide Air China with a strong domestic and international route and sales network. Foreign airlines with whom Air China cooperates includes Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Finnair, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, ANA, Dragonair, Macao Airlines, Shandong Airlines and Shanghai Airlines.

About UND Aerospace:
UND Aerospace, which includes the Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota and the UND Aerospace Foundation (UNDAF), is an international leader in collegiate and contract aviation education and training services flying over 100,000 hours per year in over 110 aircraft. UNDAF also has facilities in Spokane, Washington, with Spokane Falls Community College; Lumberton, North Carolina, with Robeson Community College; Phoenix, Arizona, in conjunction with Chandler-Gilbert Community College; Williston, North Dakota, with Williston State College; and Crookston, Minnesota, with the University of Minnesota in addition to its home-base in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

With more than 2,000 students from throughout the world, the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences is the second largest college at the University of North Dakota. Undergraduate and graduate programs leading to a variety of rewarding careers in aerospace are offered through five different academic departments: aviation, atmospheric sciences, computer science, space studies, and earth system science and policy. The UND Aerospace training complex is the most technologically advanced environment for aerospace education, training and research in the world.

In 2008, UND Aerospace will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. A series of regional alumni gatherings will be held across the country, as well as several events during UND’s Homecoming and 125th anniversary on October 13-18. For an updated listing of events, see www.undaerospace.com or www.undalumni.org.

– # –

The Odegard School news releases are available on-line at http://www.aero.und.edu and click News for a list of news releases.