Manama: Saudia, the national carrier airline of Saudi Arabia, is looking into sending Saudi women on scholarships abroad to become pilots in a new empowerment for women in the kingdom.
Sources said that the breakthrough would help shatter taboos that stood for decades, similar to the announcement that women would be allowed to drive in the kingdom, Saudi daily Okaz reported on Thursday.
Saudi women expressed hope that the reversal of a ban on driving will lead to more social change in the country.
Manal Al Sharif, who posted a video of herself driving in defiance of the ban in 2011, tweeted on Tuesday night that “rain starts with a single drop” insinuating that she anticipated more change would be coming.
On Tuesday evening, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz issued a decree to grant driving licences to women starting June next year.
The decision was openly endorsed by senior religious scholars who said that there was nothing that prevented it as long as there was adherence to the rules of religion and to the legal framework.
There is no law against women being pilots, but much like the ban on women driving, women pilots were not offered jobs working for Saudi commercial airlines.
Hanadi Zakariya Hindi made history in 2014 when she became the first licensed Saudi woman pilot in the kingdom.
Pilot’s licence
Hanadi obtained her commercial pilot’s licence in 2006, but could not fly within the kingdom.
However, after obtaining her licence from the Jeddah-based General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), she started flying small and wide-bodied luxury planes for the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), owned by Saudi Prince Al Waleed Bin Talal.
“Saudi women are capable of taking on any job previously held exclusively by men in Saudi Arabia,” she told local media.
In June this year, the Makkah-born pilot posted a picture of her renewed licence on her Twitter account.
'My family fully supported me'
“I break the good news to you that my commercial aviation licence was today renewed by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GACA), and with it, my hope for a career opportunity in my country was renewed,” Captain Hanadi posted.
Saudi pilot Yasmeen Mohammad Al Maimani became the second Saudi woman to receive a commercial pilot licence from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in 2014.
“My dream was to become a pilot and my family fully supported me,” Yasmeen said.
“My high school average was high and I could join some of the best universities to study medicine or architecture.
However, the dream of sitting in a cockpit and soaring high in the sky was a potent and sweet dream that truly overwhelmed me.”
The family went along and they supported Yasmeen in all ways as she headed to Jordan where she joined a private aviation academy.
“I obtained my private pilot licence after one year and went back home to Saudi Arabia where my attempts to get recruited by an airliner failed,” Yasmeen told Saudi daily Okaz.
“I took up an administrative position in Rabigh Wings Aviation Academy and I became the head of pilots, but I did not fly any plane.”
Driven by her dream and determined to make it come true, she continued with her studies and training.
Yasmeen said that she received an offer from a US flight academy to be their representative in the Arabian Gulf.
“I accepted the offer and they later gave me half scholarship to study for a commercial pilot licence. I accepted the offer and I was able to finish my studies in one-a-half-year and obtain the licence. I returned home in 2013 upon my graduation and the GACA endorsed my licence. I was looking forward to piloting a Saudia plane after I was duly certified by the Saudi authorities to fly a plane, but I am still waiting.”
Around 500 Saudi women are employed by Saudia, mainly in the financial and IT departments and reservation section. However, none of them is a pilot.
