Under the patronage of His Excellency Minister of Transportation Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, the Saudi Academy of Civil Aviation celebrated the graduation of 203 students in Jeddah on Wednesday. Held at the Jeddah Hilton, the ceremony was attended by a number of employees of the academy, as well as the General Authority of Civil Aviation, which owns the academy and oversees the Kingdom's civil aviation sector. Graduates were certified in air traffic control, fire and rescue, aviation systems maintenance, airport safety, and air security. Minister Hamdan congratulated the students, and confirmed that the General Authority of Civil Aviation continues to press on with its privatization programs, part of which is turning the Kingdom's airports into for-profit corporations. "It is with great pleasure that I meet with you here today to celebrate a new class of the Saudi Academy of Civil Aviation, at which they accrued knowledge and knowhow, and trained on the best software that would empower them to work and operate in the world of aviation and air transportation, thanks to their freshly acquired skills that will guarantee them success and qualify them to join their colleagues in every facet of the world of flying," Hamdan said in a speech. "The efforts that you put in and the intensity with which you applied yourselves surely are commendable, which behooves you to always keep in mind that you are at the mere beginning of a very long path to professional success, and therefore your drive to gain even more experience and skill, regardless of which sector you end up working in, must never wane. Aviation science and technology are two of the most dynamic disciplines ever, witnessing new developments almost every day. Hence, you must continue to learn, hone your skills, and work hard to keep up with the ever-changing technologies and whatever updates and upgrades that surely will emerge therein." Hamdan confirmed that the privatization programs are in line with the successes seen in the world's most prominent airports.
