500+ to Attend Women in Aviation Middle East Meet in Riyadh

• More than 500 delegates will attend the Women in Aviation Middle East meeting in Riyadh on December 16
• It comes as women's roles in Saudi Arabia's aviation sector continue to grow

The Middle East Chapter Meeting of Women in Aviation (WIA), the world’s largest non-profit organization in aviation/aerospace, has over 500 registered delegates attending this meeting as part of the Fourth Global Airports Forum (GAF) in Riyadh on December 16.

As Saudi Arabia continues to support increasing female participation in the aviation industry, this event will take place at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Centre (RICEC).

The Gold Sponsor is Red Sea International; the Marketing Partner is Gulf Air; Airline Partners are Riyadh Air Turkish Airlines and flyadeal; Supporting Partners are Boeing Alwayse Engineering Solutions, Nth Consulting Group and Elevate.

Large groups of delegates will be sent by several major institutions, including PSU, Oxford Flight Academy, National Aviation Academy, Princess Noura University, King Saud University, Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, DAA International, and Saudia Group.

Daksha Patel, Event Director at Niche Ideas, the organiser of GAF, said there is a need to find ways effectively to improve the number of qualified women participating throughout airports and other aviation fields.

She added that female representation in various jobs such as pilots, air traffic controllers, and maintenance technicians remains low in the Middle East, while the authorities introduce initiatives to improve it.

Sumayyah Khawaji is from Catrion and will be the keynote speaker for "Transforming Travel: From Operational Excellence to Passenger-Centric Innovation."

The session "From Classrooms to Cockpits" will introduce young professionals in the airline industry throughout the Middle East and Africa, and has a moderator from Space Generation Advisory Council along with specialists and engineers on the panel from Saudi Airlines, Riyadh Airports, and GAMI.

The panel "Career Pathways in Aviation: Beyond Piloting" will have speakers participating from many different sectors in the aviation industry to showcase the diversity of employment opportunities within an extensive range of companies as well as to discuss examples of career pilgrims within the industry.

There is a continuing increase in female representation within the aviation industry in the Middle East, but the representation of females continues to be significantly less than males within the technical and operational aspects of the aviation industry.

Continued collaboration and conversation with all stakeholders in the aviation industry are required to continue advancing gender diversity.