Sharifah Czarena is a

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

an pilot, who was the first woman from Brunei to captain a commercial airliner. She was initially seconded to

Loganair Loganair is a Scottish regional airline based at Glasgow Airport near Paisley, Scotland. It is the largest regional airline in the UK by passenger numbers and fleet size. In addition to its main base at Glasgow, it has hubs at Aberdeen, Edinb ...

, where she flew the

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

. Since flying for

Royal Brunei Airlines Royal Brunei Airlines Sdn Bhd (RB) ( ms, Penerbangan DiRaja Brunei, Jawi: ) is the national flag carrier airline of Brunei Darussalam, headquartered in the RB Campus in Bandar Seri Begawan. It is wholly owned by the Government of Brunei Da ...

, she has flown Boeing 767s and

Boeing 787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...

Career

Sharifah Czarena trained as a pilot cadet in 2003, taking her lessons at the Cabair Flying School,

Cranfield Cranfield is a village and civil parish in the west of Bedfordshire, England, situated between Bedford and Milton Keynes. It had a population of 4,909 in 2001. increasing to 5,369 at the 2011 Census. The parish is in Central Bedfordshire uni ...

. After graduating in 2004, she was seconded from

to Scottish carrier

for two years, flying the

. On her return to Royal Brunei Airlines, she flew the Boeing 767 as a First Officer. Czarena was promoted to Senior First Officer in 2007, and to Captain in 2012. She was the first woman from Brunei and Southeast Asia to become the captain of a commercial airliner. At the time, she said "Being a pilot, people normally see it as being a male dominant occupation. As a woman, a Bruneian woman, it is such a great achievement. It’s really showing the younger generation or the girls especially that whatever they dream of, they can achieve it." In 2016, she made history as the Captain of the first all female flight crew to land in Jeddah,

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, a country at which time did not allow women to get

driving licence A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

s. The flight was timed to celebrate Brunei's National Day. Alongside her in the

were Senior First Officers Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem and Sariana Nordin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Czarena, Sharifah Living people Women aviators Commercial aviators Women commercial aviators Bruneian women Year of birth missing (living people)