DAMMAM: A flight school in Saudi Arabia is opening its doors for women, following the end of a decades-long driving ban in the deeply conservative Muslim country where many social restrictions are easing.
Oxford Aviation Academy, a leading trainer and crew recruiter, has already received applications from hundreds of women hoping to start lessons in September at a new branch in the eastern city of Dammam.
“People used to travel abroad (to study aviation), which was difficult for women more than men,” said applicant Dalia Yashar, who aspires to work as a civil pilot.
“We are no longer living in the era were women were allowed (to work) in limited arenas. All avenues are now opened for women. If you have the appetite, you have the ability,” she said.
The academy is part of a $300 million project that includes a school for aircraft maintenance and an international center for flight simulators at the airport.
Students receive three years of academic and practical training, said executive director Othman Al-Moutairy.
A decades-long ban on women driving was lifted last month, as part of sweeping reforms pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at transforming the economy and opening up its cloistered society.
The lifting of the prohibition was welcomed by Western allies as proof of a new progressive trend in Saudi Arabia, but it has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including against some of the very activists who previously campaigned against the ban.
Saudi aviation academy to train first women pilots
Saudi aviation academy to train first women pilots
Japanese researchers hope to restore coral from Saudi-made structures
- Coral skeletons made for Saudi Pavilion at Japan expo last year
- Results of Japanese study to be revealed at Riyadh Expo 2030
TOKYO: Japanese universities are seeking to restore coral reefs and marine ecosystems after receiving artificial structures that Saudi Arabia made and showcased at last year’s Osaka-Kansai Expo.
The coral skeletons were donated to the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa and Kansai University in Osaka Prefecture, Kyodo News reported at the weekend.
The structures are made from calcium carbonate, a material on which corals are believed to grow more easily compared to artificial alternatives such as concrete or metal.
The skeletal structures were created using 3-D printers, with one piece produced a day during the expo, and displayed across an entire wall in the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, which had an area focusing on sustainable marine environments.
Coral reefs serve as habitats for much marine life, but over 40 percent of the world’s 892 species face possible extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The University of the Ryukyus, which received about 150 of the artificial coral skeletons, will place them in waters off the eastern coast of Okinawa’s main island and then examine their impact on the ecosystem.
Kansai University has placed theirs in the sea around Kagoshima Prefecture’s Yoron Island to observe their growth after transplanting coral polyps onto the structures.
The results of the research are expected to be revealed at the Riyadh Expo in 2030.
“I had never imagined that Japan and Saudi Arabia would cooperate on coral research,” said Masato Ueda, a professor specializing in regenerative medicine at Kansai University.
Ueda said he wants to demonstrate to children that “humanity is attempting to restore the environment.”
