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The Netherlands. The Dutch Aviation College is to lose 10 per cent of its 1,400 students in the next academic year following the bankruptcy of aeroplane maker Fokker.

The loss is likely to include 60 aircraft maintenance and engineering students sponsored by the company. Fokker's annual donation of equipment worth Pounds 100,000 to the college is also in jeopardy, writes Christine Aziz in Amsterdam.

The college was started by Fokker's founder, Anthony Fokker, and is sited in Hoofddorp, where Fokker has its main factory.

College director Christian Brouwer said that graduates looking for work would not be affected, "but we are going to lose the links with Fokker if the situation doesn't improve". The Dutch government is expected to announce a short-term loan to keep the company alive.