Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — A total of 12 Saudi women on Sunday joined a training course for air traffic controllers, the first in the Kingdom for women.

At the end of the training they will be hired as air traffic controllers.

The training course for the first batch is being carried out by the state-owned company Saudi Air Navigation Services (SANS) in cooperation with the Saudi Civil Aviation Academy as part of an ambitious program to create more jobs for Saudi women.

The graduates of the diploma course will get the Saudi Air Traffic Control Academy certificate and will be hired by SANS to work at its air traffic control centers in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Ryyan Tarabzoni, chief executive officer of SANS, said SANS gives top priority to employing Saudi women in this profession in line with the goal of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to support and empower Saudi women.

“The training program is being implemented with the support and follow up of Abdulhakim Al-Tamimi, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA),” he said.

Applicants must be between 18 and 25 years of age and have a high school diploma with high marks. They have to clear seven tests before being selected for the training program, which consists of both theoretical and practical training in the air traffic control sector.

The Saudi Civil Aviation Academy, which is implementing the program, is a specialized academy accredited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) with 7 international accreditations.

The air traffic control course includes physics, mathematics, aviation language, basic aerodynamic training course, tower control course, practical application program that includes an international flight definition of ‘cabins’, and practical training on simulators, as well as workshops and orientation visits.

The Saudi women employees at GACA play a major role especially in the sector of licensing procedures for airlines and their employees.