Call for financial support for women in aviation
A South African female pilot says financial support could encourage more women, particularly those from rural areas, to pursue careers in aviation.
Abile Mavimbela, who is a private pilot, says the path she had to take to get her licence was costly.
"We enter this space with hopes that we will get financial backing especially if you are a person that couldn't get financial backing from the beginning.
"So, then you would have to pace yourself as a self-funded student and that is really difficult. The exams are costly, the flight training is more costly."
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Mavimbela and a group of trainee pilots attended the National Aviation Gender Summit in Umhlanga on Wednesday.
She says they would like to see more young, black women earning their pilot wings.
"Especially the ones from rural areas because it is very rare to find someone from rural areas.
"Summits must be held in rural areas where more people can engage and there are more empowerment programmes where we can tell students about opportunities that are out there."
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