GCAA invited by ICAO to participate in seminar in Montreal

Captain Aysha Al Hamli, Senior Officer, Investigation and Legislation, at the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), was invited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada, to speak about her experience as the UAE's first woman graduating from an aviation school and the first female piloting a plane in her country. The seminar was held on June 8, 2007 at the ICAO's headquarters in Montreal.

The seminar was organized on the sidelines of an exhibition held by the GCAA showcasing the achievements of the UAE's civil aviation industry. The exhibition, from June 4 to 8, 2007, highlighted the massive development the UAE's civil aviation sector underwent, making it one of the fastest growing aviation sectors in the world.

Capt. Al Hamli, who piloted a plane for the first time in her life when she was 16, said: 'The UAE leaders have encouraged women to work in sectors which were restricted to men. The leadership has had great confidence in the capabilities of women, who make half of the UAE society, to take up major challenges and to assume senior positions'.

She spoke about her experience and said she had always loved flying. 'My father encouraged me to become a pilot and supported me to study at an aviation school. I also had the right and appropriate circumstances that helped me to achieve my objective', she said.

Capt. Al Hamli said she was also supported by her supervisors and colleagues when she joined an airline in the country, immediately after she graduated from the Royal Jordanian Academy in 2000.

The seminar, which was attended by Dr. Tayeb Sharif, the ICAO's Secretary-General and a large number of ICAO officials, highlighted the liberal and advanced outlook of UAE society. 'Capt. Al Hamli's knowledge, aptitude and quick-mindedness were praised by the European and Canadian experts who attended the seminar. She showed great talent in answering the questions of the audience who met a pilot from the UAE for the first time', said one of the attendants.

Besides her position as Senior Officer, Investigation and Legislation at the GCAA, Capt. Al Hamli also works as assistant plane pilot for an airline in the UAE. Her name will be registered as the first UAE female pilot in a special publication to be brought out by the ICAO on women who were the first to pilot planes in their countries.