First Saudi woman pilot to fly; driving still illegal

RIYADH (AFP) -- While the debate over whether Saudi women should be allowed to drive rages on, Captain Hanadi Hindi will soon become the first woman to fly a plane with the private fleet of a prince. Hindi, 27, is preparing to take to the skies at a time when supporters and opponents of lifting the ban on women's driving in the conservative kingdom are still fighting it out in the local press.

"I never meant to be a pioneer. When I started learning to become a pilot, I did so for my father, who himself had aspired to be a pilot. I then got attached to flying," Hindi said by telephone from her home in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Prince Al Walid Ben Talal's decision to make Hindi part of his private crew has drawn criticism from some conservative Muslim scholars, who object to any easing of constraints that bar Saudi women from mixing with men other than relatives or travelling without the authorisation of a male guardian.

Source: [Jordan Times]

But Hindi said the billionaire entrepreneur's Kingdom Holding Company had also hired her father, Zakariya Hindi, as a legal consultant. He will accompany her on all her trips "so that no one will say that I am travelling without a male relative." Hindi said she is heading to London in about three weeks for a three-month training course before she takes up her job as a pilot for Prince Al Walid.

Kingdom Holding hired Hindi even before she clinched her Commercial Pilot's Licence and an Instrument Rating (CPL and IR) from the Mideast Aviation Academy in Jordan last month. The company, which runs a worldwide business empire, had offered Hindi a scholarship to carry through her last year at the Jordanian academy, and Prince Al Walid took out doublespread advertisements in the press to congratulate her on taking her CPL.

"I thank God that Prince Al Walid has given me the opportunity to serve my country and serve his highness, bearing in mind that he is a member of the royal family," Hindi said. Hindi said that before the prince offered her a 10-year contract, she feared she might not find a job in Saudi Arabia.

Her apprehensions were well-grounded, given that women in the Muslim country are still excluded from many professions that would appear less controversial than piloting a plane and are the only women in the world banned from driving a car.

The appointed Shura [consultative] council in May shelved the suggestion of Mohammad Al Zalfa, who cited a host of economic reasons to end the ban, such as the fact that the prohibition has led to the presence of around a million foreign drivers who cost the country 12 billion riyals [$3.2 billion] a year.

Advocates of an end to the ban also cite the prohibitive cost of hiring drivers for families of limited means. They also defend their case on social grounds to counter the religious-based arguments of opponents, pointing out that by having to rely on drivers, Saudi women end up spending much time alone with male strangers.

Hindi said she was "not against" allowing women to drive because some women either cannot afford to employ drivers, which forces them to rely on public transport, or have no able-bodied men in their families to take them around. It would be good if women could get behind the wheel "with certain restrictions," such as granting that right only to women of middle age or more, she said.

But despite having blazed a trail by becoming the first Saudi woman pilot, Hindi diplomatically shifted the issue away from ideological grounds. Being a pioneer "is a very big responsibility... I hope I will be a good example for Saudi women," she said.