Riyadh Air JV for colleges, airlines to empower women

Riyadh Air, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s newly established national airline, has reached a significant milestone in its journey toward its inaugural flight in 2025. 
The company welcomed its first cohort of 27 pioneering female students who have embarked on a 30-month diploma course to become certified aircraft engineering technicians. This groundbreaking initiative marks a historic moment for Saudi Arabia as female engineers will receive training under the supervision of Aviation Australia and the International Aviation Technical College at Riyadh Airport. 

The collaboration stems from a memorandum of understanding signed between Riyadh Air and the Colleges of Excellence in August 2023, marking the beginning of several joint efforts between the organisations.
Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants, these aspiring engineers are all Saudi high school graduates with outstanding academic records. Riyadh Air’s decision to exclusively enrol females in its inaugural intake underscores its strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, setting a positive precedent for women’s participation in the aviation industry.

During a visit to the Riyadh Airport facility, senior leaders from Riyadh Air, including CEO Tony Douglas, Australian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mark Donovan and Colleges of Excellence CEO Engineer Ajman Abdullah met with the trainee engineers. Currently, female aircraft maintenance engineers and technicians constitute only 3.0 percent of the global workforce, according to ICAO statistics. Riyadh Air’s initiative not only addresses this gender gap but also anticipates a future shortage of qualified maintenance workers by tapping into the growing talent pool of Saudi women eager to pursue non-traditional roles in the industry.

Douglas said, “Riyadh Air is an airline that will challenge perceptions while representing the modern, dynamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Diversity and inclusion are an important pillar of our business and introducing young women to the technical side of our airline demonstrates that we are serious about creating an airline that meets the expectations of Vision 2030. We are fortunate that our engineers are students at the International Aviation technical College under the Colleges of Excellence banner and accredited by Aviation Australia, one of the most prestigious global aviation schools and we fully expect these ladies to be part of the future leadership of Riyadh Air. 
(TTW)