Amina Ibrahim Al Saud

Saudi Arabian aviation pioneer who became the first Arab woman to earn a commercial pilot's license in 1967

Amina Ibrahim Al Saud (b. 1942) shattered gender barriers in Saudi Arabia's aviation industry when she earned her commercial pilot's license in 1967 - the first woman in the Arab world to do so. Born into a conservative Riyadh family, she secretly studied aeronautics at King Saud University while working as a flight attendant for Gulf Air. Her 1965 solo flight across the Arabian Peninsula in a Cessna 172 became national news, eventually persuading the government to allow women flight training.

In 1972, she founded Skyline Aviation Services, the first Middle Eastern airline with a female CEO and majority female crew. Her memoir Altitude of Freedom (1975) details her struggles and triumphs, including negotiating with oil ministers to secure aircraft purchases. The Raytheon Corporation honored her in 1980 as a 'Global Aviation Trailblazer.'

Though her airline closed in 1985 due to regulatory challenges, her legacy endures through the Amina Al Saud Flight Academy, established in her honor in 2001. The 2018 documentary Women in the Cockpit explores her impact, while her 1968 transcontinental flight record remains unbroken for female pilots under 30 years old.