The first ever all-female flight deck crew for Royal Brunei Airlines has operated a plane from Brunei to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Although it was a milestone for the airline, the pilot crew touched down in a country where women are still not allowed to drive a car.

To mark Brunei’s National Day, which celebrates the country’s independence, Captain Sharifah Czarena Surainy Syed Hashim, Senior First Officer Dk Nadiah Pg Khashiem and Senior First Officer Sariana Nordin flew flight BI081, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, to the Middle Eastern country on 23 February.

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The occasion came just over three years after Captain Czarena became the first female captain of a flag carrier in Southeast Asia. She told The Brunei Times in 2012: “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,” said the captain, who completed her initial pilot training at the Cabair Flying School in Cranfield.

And Royal Brunei Airlines is committed to getting more women into the industry as it currently offers an Engineering Apprentice programme to both males and females.

But the airline's landmark voyage also highlighted the restrictions women still face in Saudi Arabia. Although there is no law that prohibits women from driving, it is a rule imposed by conservative Muslim clerics.

In recent years, women have used social media to protest against being forbidden from getting behind the wheel.

The Women to Drive campaign has nearly 36,000 “likes” on Facebook.

Shape Created with Sketch. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 Show all 15 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. The world's 15 most powerful women in 2015 1/15 Angela Merkel - German Chancellor German Chancellor Angela Merkel has retained her number one ranking for topping this year’s Forbes list for the fifth consecutive year and ten times in total. 2/15 Hillary Clinton - Presidential candidate, United States Clinton, who could become the world’s most powerful leader in 2016, has been featured on the list every year since it launched in 2014. 3/15 Melinda Gates - Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda Gates has cemented her dominance in philanthropy and global development to the tune of $3.9 billion in giving in 2014 and more than $33 billion in grant payments since she founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband in 2000. 4/15 Janet Yellen - Chair, Federal Reserve, Washington, United States Janet Yellen made history in 2014 when she became the first female head of the Federal Reserve. 5/15 Marry Barra - CEO of General Motors Mary Barra made history by becoming the first female CEO of General Motors. 6/15 Christina Lagarde - Managing director, International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde is entering the last year of her first term heading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the organisation which serves as economic advisor and backstop for 188 countries. Under Lagarde the IMF has supported efforts to increase female labor force participation as way to reduce poverty and inequality. The UK, Germany, China, France and Korea have endorsed Christine Lagarde for another term as the head of the IMF. 7/15 Dilma Rousseff - President, Brazil Dilma Rousseff, who has been elected in 2010, is Brazil's first female president. 8/15 Sheryl Sandberg - COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of bestseller “Lean In,” joined the company in 2008 and became the first woman on its board four years later. Sandberg helped the social network go public and expand digital revenue. 9/15 Susan Wojcicki - CEO of Youtube Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube, the world’s most popular digital video platform used by over a billion people across the globe. She oversees YouTube's content and business operations, engineering, and product development. 10/15 Michelle Obama - First lady, United States Michelle Obama, the 44th first lady of the United States has focused her attention on issues such as the support of military families, helping working women balance career and family and encouraging national service. 11/15 Park Geun-hye - President, South Korea Park Geun-hye is the first female leader of a country that has the highest level of gender inequality in the developed world. In her inauguration speech, she promised to prioritise both national security and economic revitalisation. 12/15 Oprah Winfrey - Actress, Director/Producer, Entrepreneur, Personality, Philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, a former queen of daytime TV has proven she can thrive without a talkshow. Her 'The Life You Want' tour sold out stadiums from Newark to Seattle in 2014. 13/15 Ginni Rometty - CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty joined IBM in 1981 and later became the first woman to lead the company. 14/15 Meg Whitman - CEO of Hewlett-Packard Meg Whitman is the only woman to have headed two large U.S. public companies: eBay and Hewlett-Packard.Until Marissa Mayer's arrival at Yahoo, she was the only female head of a leading Internet-based company. 15/15 Indra Nooyi - CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo. Mrs. Nooyi leads one of the world’s largest convenient food and beverage companies, with 2008 annual revenues of more than $43 billion. 1/15 Angela Merkel - German Chancellor German Chancellor Angela Merkel has retained her number one ranking for topping this year’s Forbes list for the fifth consecutive year and ten times in total. 2/15 Hillary Clinton - Presidential candidate, United States Clinton, who could become the world’s most powerful leader in 2016, has been featured on the list every year since it launched in 2014. 3/15 Melinda Gates - Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Melinda Gates has cemented her dominance in philanthropy and global development to the tune of $3.9 billion in giving in 2014 and more than $33 billion in grant payments since she founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband in 2000. 4/15 Janet Yellen - Chair, Federal Reserve, Washington, United States Janet Yellen made history in 2014 when she became the first female head of the Federal Reserve. 5/15 Marry Barra - CEO of General Motors Mary Barra made history by becoming the first female CEO of General Motors. 6/15 Christina Lagarde - Managing director, International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde is entering the last year of her first term heading the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the organisation which serves as economic advisor and backstop for 188 countries. Under Lagarde the IMF has supported efforts to increase female labor force participation as way to reduce poverty and inequality. The UK, Germany, China, France and Korea have endorsed Christine Lagarde for another term as the head of the IMF. 7/15 Dilma Rousseff - President, Brazil Dilma Rousseff, who has been elected in 2010, is Brazil's first female president. 8/15 Sheryl Sandberg - COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and author of bestseller “Lean In,” joined the company in 2008 and became the first woman on its board four years later. Sandberg helped the social network go public and expand digital revenue. 9/15 Susan Wojcicki - CEO of Youtube Susan Wojcicki is CEO of YouTube, the world’s most popular digital video platform used by over a billion people across the globe. She oversees YouTube's content and business operations, engineering, and product development. 10/15 Michelle Obama - First lady, United States Michelle Obama, the 44th first lady of the United States has focused her attention on issues such as the support of military families, helping working women balance career and family and encouraging national service. 11/15 Park Geun-hye - President, South Korea Park Geun-hye is the first female leader of a country that has the highest level of gender inequality in the developed world. In her inauguration speech, she promised to prioritise both national security and economic revitalisation. 12/15 Oprah Winfrey - Actress, Director/Producer, Entrepreneur, Personality, Philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, a former queen of daytime TV has proven she can thrive without a talkshow. Her 'The Life You Want' tour sold out stadiums from Newark to Seattle in 2014. 13/15 Ginni Rometty - CEO of IBM Ginni Rometty joined IBM in 1981 and later became the first woman to lead the company. 14/15 Meg Whitman - CEO of Hewlett-Packard Meg Whitman is the only woman to have headed two large U.S. public companies: eBay and Hewlett-Packard.Until Marissa Mayer's arrival at Yahoo, she was the only female head of a leading Internet-based company. 15/15 Indra Nooyi - CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo. Mrs. Nooyi leads one of the world’s largest convenient food and beverage companies, with 2008 annual revenues of more than $43 billion.

In December 2014, Loujain al-Hathloul was detained after she tried to drive into Saudi Arabia from the United Arab Emirates. Maysa al-Amoudi, a friend who turned up to support her, was also detained. Both were released after more than 70 days in custody.

Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East and North Africa director for Human Rights Watch said at the time: “After years of false promises to end its absurd restrictions on women, Saudi authorities are still arresting them for getting behind the wheel.

"The Saudi government’s degrading restrictions on women are what bring shame to the country, not the brave activists standing up for their rights.”

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