The Ministry of Transportation’s Acting Undersecretary of Civil Aviation Affairs HE Ahmed Ali Al-Nemah announced that the Ministry of Transportation, in conjunction with the Kingdom’s Ministry of Education and public and private sector education institutions, Bahrain’s students will be able to enjoy the upcoming Bahrain International Airshow for free.

Around 2000 students from public and private schools will be offered free tickets, which will be assigned to top students, for the public area on the first day of the Airshow (Thursday 16th January 2014). School students will enjoy the flying displays and participate in edutainment activities centred around the science of flying, including flight simulators, a space zone exhibit run by the UK's National Space Centre, vertical wind tunnels and mad science workshops plus many interactive activities.

Furthermore, for each day of the Airshow, 300 students from various universities in Bahrain interested in aviation will be given access to the trade area, where they can network with the exhibitors and gain insight into the field from actual practitioners and aviation institutions. The aim is to support career development and create networking opportunities. For the first time, the Arabian Section of The Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots, established in 1929 by 99 women pilots, will have a presence at the Airshow and will engage with the university students in particular to educate about opportunities in the aviation sector.

His Excellency further added that Inspiring the next generation of Bahraini pilots, engineers and scientists is an important part of the mandate for the Bahrain International Airshow, and the trade show access for university students will enable them to engage and ask questions at this critical stage as they decide on their careers.

The event, which will be hosted at Sakhir Air Base, under the patronage of HM the King's Personal Representative and Head of the Supreme Organising Committee of BIAS, His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa. from 16 to 18 January 2014, is organised by the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) and Royal Bahraini Air Force.

Tickets to the public area are also available from all Batelco outlets, and offer great value for money, priced at only BD 3 for children and BD 7 for adults.