ALBAWABA - An Iranian airline has carried out its first flight strictly for women, marking a major milestone in the country's aviation history, according to AFP.
One of Iran's first female pilots, Shahrzad Shams, led Aseman Airlines in a smooth landing at Mashhad's Hashemi Nejad International Airport on Sunday. The trip was a first for the industry, carrying 110 passengers who were all female.
It was called the “Iran Banoo” or “Iran Lady” flight, and it took place on the anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad’s daughter Fatima al-Zahra’s birth. Since it houses the burial place of Imam Reza, an admired figure in Shia Islam, Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, is a major religious destination, marking a significant symbolic destination for the flight.
A women-only flight, carrying 110 Iranian women and piloted by Shahrzad Shams, Iran's first female pilot, landed at Mashhad Airport on Sunday, state media reported.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) December 22, 2024
The official IRNA news agency reported it was the first time an aircraft carrying only women, including passengers and crew, had reached Mashhad. The agency emphasized the symbolic and cultural significance of the trip, although it did not indicate where it departed from.
In Iran’s aviation industry, women have gradually been included into jobs that have historically been filled by males, AFP reports. Despite the fact that women pilots are still rare in the nation, achievements like these highlight a trend toward more diversity.
As Iran's first female co-pilots on a passenger aircraft, pilots Neshat Jahandari and Forouz Firouzi made news in 2019.
Sunday's flight is an optimistic instance for progress in a difficult environment and highlights the prospect of further possibilities for women in the Iranian aviation sector.
