RIYADH: Capt. Hanadi Zakaria Al-Hindi, the first Saudi woman pilot, hopes to return soon to the cockpit. Employed by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chief of the Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the 29-year-old has been released from a Jeddah hospital following successful abdominal surgery.
“The surgery will ensure my medical fitness, God willing,” said Al-Hindi yesterday by phone from Makkah. “I am hopeful that I will soon be flying again.”
She thanked Prince Alwaleed for his “kind words, encouragement and support during this period.”
Asked about her job at KHC, she said, “I am proud of myself and my family for supporting me, and I’m proud of Prince Alwaleed who has extended all help.”
Al-Hindi has a 10-year contract with Prince Alwaleed’s KHC as chief pilot of his private jet.
The prince paid for Al-Hindi’s studies in Jordan. She attended Jordan’s Middle East Academy of Aviation and has become something of a celebrity in Saudi Arabia after being awarded her Jordanian commercial pilot’s license in 2006.
Al-Hindi said she was proud flying on a regular basis. She said the aviation industry was no longer a male preserve. “I know the first Emirati woman pilot; she also got her commercial pilot’s license from the Middle East Aviation Academy in Amman,” Al-Hindi said.
Emirati Aisha Al-Hamli is the first Arab woman to receive a commercial pilot’s license. Al-Hindi noted that one of her trainers in Jordan was a woman.
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