Aviation Academy
#4 We are the Aviation Academy: Thom Odijk
During your studies at the Aviation Academy, you will have the opportunity to do a minor in the Netherlands or abroad. In my case it was the latter. My name is Thom, a third year student of the major Aviation Logistics, and I will tell you about my stay in Estonia.
The first questions someone asks when I tell them that I went to Estonia for my minor are nine out of ten times “Estonia where is that exactly, still in Europe right?”, followed by “Why Estonia and not somewhere warm?” For me this was exactly the reason to go here, not some place exotic, but an undiscovered country where I normally wouldn’t go. With a population of 1.3 million and a surface bigger than the Netherlands there is a lot to discover!
In the end of August 2015 a total of three Aviation Logistics students were standing at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to catch a flight to Estonia’s capital city Tallinn, with the then national carrier Estonian Air. The Estonian Aviation Academy, or Eesti Lennuakadeemia in Estonian, is located near the second biggest city of the country: Tartu. The city of Tartu is often considered the intellectual capital of Estonia, and can be described as an ideal city for students as everything is located near the student housing. The Aviation Academy itself offers a broad range of aviation related topics, from Air Traffic Management to Engineering with practical assignments in their own hangar. In the beginning of November the news came that the European Commission had decided that there had been illegal state aid to Estonian Air, and decided that it had to be paid back immediately. Being unable to do so resulted in the demise of Estonian Air and the birth of the new carrier: Nordic Aviation Group, which can be considered as the most important event in Estonian aviation in 2015.
Doing part of your studies abroad is a unique experience and often leads to something better, in my case this was the possibility to do my 3 rd year internship at the newly founded airline. This opportunity presented itself during one of the presentations which I had to give during the minor. Nordic Aviation Group is a start-up airline which aims to continue providing connectivity to Europe from its hub at Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport. In the beginning of March 2016 the airline has introduced its new brand and will continue as Nordica. When operations started in November 2015 a total of eight destinations were served, as of March 27 th with the beginning of the summer season we will provide a total of 16 different destinations from Tallinn.
With scheduled flights between Amsterdam and Tallinn seven days a week, there is a lot of connectivity. Speaking for myself and my colleagues we hope to be able to welcome you to Estonia soon!