The number of women working in the UAE aviation industry is on the rise, according to Mervat Sultan, President, Women in Aviation Middle East Chapter.
Nearly 27,000 women are currently employed in the UAE aviation sector, representing 42 per cent of the workforce.
Addressing the Women in Aviation 10th Anniversary Conference, she said the number of women in aviation is on the rise with active and constructive participation of women, taking up aviation as their choicest career.
UAE Women in Aviation
Sultan said: “If you want to build your nation, you need to build a generation first. Women empowerment is essential for betterment of the society.
“For this, women education and training are more important. We need to educate parents and children as well about employment opportunities in aviation.
“Women are in all areas of aviation, not only as pilots. There are more engineers, air traffic controllers, medical, technical and legal staff,” she said.
Women in Aviation 10th Anniversary Conference is a co-located event of the 22nd edition of Airport Show.
Delivering a speech at the event, Sheikha Mozah Bint Marwan Al Maktoum, First Lieutenant Pilot, Dubai Police Airwing, said the gender gap is still big in the aviation field and an effective roadmap is needed to resolve this issue.
She said she formed Shehana, a Women in Aviation Association, to empower and support women in the aviation industry.
The vision of Shehana is to advance gender balance in the aviation industry through local, regional and international partnerships and collaborations.
Delivering Guest of Honour Speech Kuljit S. Ghata-Aura, President, Boeing Middle East Türkiye and Africa, said the UAE has made significant strides in empowering women in the aviation industry, with nearly 27,000 women currently employed in the sector, representing 42% of the workforce.
He said: “Boeing has taken steps to support gender equality in the workplace in the UAE. In December 2022, we joined 15 companies from the UAE’s private sector in signing a pledge to accelerate the advancement of gender equality in the UAE’s workforce by increasing the representation of women in leadership roles to 30 per cent by 2025”.
Globally, women’s representation in Boeing workforce increased to 24.6 per cent, both because of hiring efforts and stronger retention.
“Here in the UAE, we are also proud to partner with the government and other stakeholders in promoting gender equity in the aviation sector.
“We are committed to increasing the representation of women in leadership roles not only in the UAE but across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa region.
Over the past year, we have made significant progress, with women accounting for 33 per cent of our new hires in the region, compared to 26 per cent in 2020
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