A transformation in thinking opened doors for girls to look for non-conventional career options, says Muneeb Bhat, a pilot from Srinagar who owns Airborne Academy– one of the state’s few private aviation schools.
“We have two training institutes in the two regions of the state. In every batch of ten to 12 students, there are four to five girls. Over the last few years, the change is quite visible, and girls are coming in greater numbers to choose aviation as their profession,” Bhat told Khabar South Asia. “Those times when the girls in Kashmir were restricted to house chores are gone.”
One aspiring female flier, Ayesha Aziz , now 18, became the first Kashmiri girl to earn a student pilot’s licence at age 15. Today, she strives to earn her wings by obtaining a commercial pilot’s licence.
