RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's international airports are the scene of the latest "first" for women citizens, who can now leave the country without permission from a male relative.

Salma, a 40-year-old mother of three, travels abroad regularly with authorization from her legal guardian — formerly her then-husband and now her father. But those rules were canceled this month, so when she went to Riyadh airport on Thursday, she crossed passport control on her own authority.

"You just feel like you're human, you're a complete human," she said from the gate. "Not half, not part of, but you're a complete human."

The previous system assigned each woman a male relative — a father, brother, husband or son — whose approval was needed for various big decisions throughout a woman’s life.

The latest changes mean women over 21 can now get a passport and go abroad and without permission. They also allow women to register child birth, marriage or divorce, be issued official family documents and be a guardian to children who are minors.

More than 1,000 women in the kingdom's Eastern Province have already traveled abroad under the new rules, the local newspaper Al Yaum reported on Tuesday.

Some women complained on Twitter that they were still blocked from ordering passports through the government's online portal, called Absher. Local media said they would need to apply in person until the electronic system was activated.

The freedom to travel abroad follows last year's lifting of a ban on women driving cars, which was widely celebrated at home and praised abroad.

"The steps taken so far are crucial milestones for the advancement of women’s rights in the country," said Saudi researcher Eman Hussei wrote this month on the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington website.

"All of these laws show the Saudi leadership’s efforts to strike a balance between opening up the country and preserving some traditional values by differentiating between customs, Islamic laws, and gender rights." — Reuters