Tianjin - More than 400 graduates have successfully obtained their master degree or diploma from the Aviation Safety Management Master Program (ASM Master Program). The program is run by Airbus and its European and Chinese partners.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the project's launch by the International Airworthiness Cooperation Department of Airbus in 2001. Airbus initiation was welcomed and enthusiastically supported by ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile), CAUC (Civil Aviation University of China) and France's ISAE (Institut Superieur de L'Aeronautique et de L'Espace), which was formerly known as the ENSICA. The first session started in 2003, and the first group of master students graduated in 2004.

This year, 53 students graduated at a ceremony at CAUC in Tianjin with certificatios in airworthiness, flight operations and aeronautical. This is the seventh group of graduates from the program, putting the total number of graduates over 400. Fifty-five more students have been recruited for the 2011-2012 program in maintenance and airworthiness. Each year, more students apply to the Aviation Safety Management Program.

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Financed and technically supported by Airbus, the ASM Master Program collaborates with the ENAC and ISAE on CAUC campuses. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China's aviation authority, has proclaimed its strong support for the training.

The program was developed to create a state-of-the-art educational program in China on civil aviation safety management and to train future professionals to the highest international standards. Graduates receive a French diploma from ENAC and ISAE, which is recognized in both France and China. Today, graduates from the program are working for airlines, airworthiness authorities, maintenance organizations, airports, air traffic control providers and aviation education institutions.

To graduate, students must complete the curriculum and successfully present their theses to Chinese and French professors.

Zhang Jian Qing, director of International Affairs department of Tianjin Education Committee, Airbus China Vice Presient Philippe Lin, Professor Wu Tongshui, the president of CAUC, ENAC President Marc Houalla, and Olivier Fourure, president of ISAIE attended the ceremony.