The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), represented by Hail International Airport's administration and Nesma Airlines, has celebrated the first official flight of a Saudi female co- pilot, Ms. Yasmin Al Maimani (29 year old). Ms. Maimani flew her first flight between (King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Prince Naif International Airport in Qaseem) and between (Hail International Airport and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Tabuk). Ms. Maimani holds a commercial license becoming the first female to co-pilot a commercial plane in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Nesma Airlines currently employs Ms. Maimani. GACA gives full support to the empowerment of Saudi women in the field of air transport, in continuation of the great achievements made by the Kingdom toward female empowerment and its strong presence in the labor market. Saudi women have proven themselves in many fields, such as administrative, technical and many leadership positions. Women were given licenses to work in the field of air transport supported by the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and based on the Kingdom's Vision 2030 led by HRH Crown Prince. Nesma Airlines announced earlier that it was accepting applicants to work as commercial co-pilots; more than 57 applicants applied, including two females in the "new pilots" program. Eleven young men and women were accepted including Ms. Maimani who holds a commercial pilot license (CPL) from the United States. The batch were enrolled in a training regiment divided into four stages. The first stage was ground training conducted at Prince Sultan Academy. The second stage was training on a plane with multiple engines and the third stage was ground training on an ATR 72-600 aircraft at Nesma Aviation Training Center in Hail. The last and final training stage was on an ATR 72-600 simulator in the cities of Jakarta and Madrid. It is worth noting, that Nesma Airlines is one of the first companies to use the ATR-72-600 aircraft in the Kingdom and in the Gulf region. The twin-engine turbo charged aircraft are short distant regional aircraft manufactured by the French/Italian Company ATR and has a seventy seating capacity.
