Prince Saud bin Naif will inaugurate the Oxford Aviation Academy.

:: Eastern Province Gov. Prince Saud bin Naif will inaugurate the Oxford Aviation Academy (OAA) on Wednesday. The prince will also sign agreements with OAA to graduate male and female pilots and maintenance engineers. Othman Al-Mutairi, CEO of the academy, said the graduation of the first batch of male and female pilots will be in 2020, pointing out that the academy has so far enrolled 375 students from inside and outside the Kingdom and started preparatory study last week, while registration in the academy is still open for the next period. He said there is an urgent need to graduate a number of Saudi pilots to operate aircraft in 27 airports and five local airlines.

He added that the academy aims to graduate 400 pilots and 600 technicians annually. Separately, The General Authority of Civil Aviation, in cooperation with the Saudi-American Business Council, organized a roundtable meeting with major UK civil aviation companies on Thursday. The meeting discussed the Saudi aviation sector and possible investment opportunities in it.