RIYADH, 16 February 2003 — The domestic licenses to be issued to Saudi pilots will allow them to fly to all countries including the United States which barred two Saudi pilots from flying in the US, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.
The Saudi Civil Aviation Authority would start issuing its own licenses to all Saudi pilots within a month, effectively bypassing the US authorities, the report said. A number of Arab airlines were already doing the same, the paper quoted a Saudia official as saying.
The new licenses are recognized internationally and will signal the suspension of relations with the US aviation authorities regarding the issuance of pilots’ licenses, the report said.
The two Saudi pilots, who were barred from flying in the United States on the grounds that they “pose a security threat”, had appealed against the ban, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The cases against Moen Hassan Zarie and Tarek Hassan Al-Jefry stem from the Transportation Security Administration’s new responsibility to conduct threat assessments of all pilots, mechanics and flight instructors authorized to work or fly in the United States, the Journal said.
The Saudia source said the two pilots were not detained or questioned because they were in Saudi Arabia.
The 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the TSA, authorizes the government to bar anyone found to be a threat while working in the industry without providing evidence, according to the report.
The Saudi airmen’s certificates were revoked last month without public notice.
