Business & Money | Sunday 11 March, 2018 7:25 am |

The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) hired two Saudi women architects to design the Kingdom's airports.

Alaa Al-Tiami and Shatha Sharaf Al-Deen are the first Saudi women architects to work for the authority, breaking new grounds for Saudi women in the fields of engineering and architecture.

Al-Tiami said she aspires to leave her mark by designing the Saudi airports.

"I aim to design the best airport in the Kingdom. I graduated from Princess Noura University and began working for the authority's field projects. My field requires excellent managerial skills and the ability to take quick decisions. What made the higher managers at the authority give me this position is that I used to be the only architect in a previous project and I submitted a design within a few days. They were impressed and they gave me a bigger responsibility,” said Al-Tiami.

Al-Deen said she worked for the authority as a supervisor of designs in the authority's various projects.

"I was part of a team in Riyadh overseeing several projects including the expansion of the Abha airport adding international terminals. I feel proud to be a Saudi woman architect serving my country. The authority provides an extremely comfortable working environment for me as a woman. I feel encouraged and empowered to do more everyday," said Al-Deen.

GACA chief Abdulhakim Al-Tamimi has been working on enhancing the quality of employees working for the authority and its projects. The authority believes in empowering Saudi women and enabling them to become experts in the aviation sector.