Mohadese Mirzaee

Mohadese Mirzaee (Dari: محدثه میرزایی; born 1998) is an Afghan pilot who became the first woman to fly a commercial airliner in Afghanistan.[1]

Early life and education

Mirzaee attended the Afghan Turk Maarif School in Kabul.[2] She was a high achiever in mathematics and science, and described admiring "the complexity of machines" during her youth.[3][4] As a child, she told her mother that she did not want to work a desk job; her mother suggested she should become a pilot.[5] Her interest in flying subsequently developed at a young age, and she became serious about wishing to enter the profession at the age of fifteen.[1][3]

To reward her academic performance, Mirzaee's mother arrange for her to speak with pilots at air bases for her sixteenth birthday.[4] The pilots she spoke with at first suggested she could become an air traffic controller.[4] When she expressed a desire to fly, they took her that she was not fit for the profession, claiming she was not physically strong enough.[4][6][7]

Flight training

In 2015, Mirzaee travelled to Port Colborne, Canada to complete her secondary education as part of an exchange program, where she signed up for flying lessons to learn the fundamentals.[2][4][7] She undertook her early training at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto, paying $300 per lesson.[6][7] Mirzaee paid for the lessons by working minimum-wage jobs at McDonald's and Walmart, and as a receptionist at a dental clinic.[6][7]

Although she was accepted to a Canadian university to study engineering, she believed her life would be "meaningless" if she abandoned her aspirations of flying.[1] She subsequently returned to Afghanistan and frequently contacted Kam Air until they allowed her to enter their training program.[1][4] She spent the next 18 months training at Airworks Aviation Academy in the Philippines.[6][5]

Career in Afghanistan

Mirzaee's first commercial flight took place 20 August 2020.[6] For almost a year, she conducted domestic flights as the pilot of a Boeing 737, and also few to destinations including Saudi Arabia and Turkey.[6][8] She conducted training in Bulgaria twice a year, in accordance with company practice.[9]

First all-female commercial flight in Afghanistan

On 24 February 2021, a crew of two pilots and four cabin crew, with Mirzaee as captain, undertook Afghanistan's first all-female commercial flight.[1][10][11] Her copilot was Ukrainian Veronika Borisova.[4][12]

Lasting 90 minutes, the plane travelled 350 nautical miles from Kabul to Herat.[2][10][12] The crew did not announce the significance of the flight to its passengers, fearing a poor reception from more "conservative" travellers on board.[4] Aviation vlogger Josh Cahill was invited to document the flight, and the video he later posted about the event made international headlines.[5][10][13][14][15][16]

Fall of Kabul

In August 2021, the United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Kabul fell to the Taliban.[17]

On 15 August, Mirzaee was preparing for a flight to Istanbul from Kabul airport that was cancelled due to unrest in the city.[18] She instead fled to Kyiv, Ukraine as a passenger, only to be refused entry to the country.[6][7] As she still had a valid visa for Bulgaria, she travelled there instead on 16 August.[7][9] She was separated from her mother and two sisters, who were evacuated to Albania.[9] Mirzaee's family members were eventually resettled in Canada.[7]

Mirzaee has expressed a hope that "one day [she] will go back home and fly again."[19] However, she believes she will only be able to return if the Taliban "will respect women's rights" and let them "work as [they] did in the past."[20]

Career in Europe

Mirzaee's visa expired in November 2021, prompting her to claim asylum.[2] While she waited for a decision on her status, she undertook exams to convert her qualifications to European standards.[9] She was motivated by a belief that the Taliban "want to silence women," and giving up on her career would mean "they... achieved their goal."[2]

By the end of 2022, she had attained status in Bulgaria, a European pilot's license, and a position at an airline.[21] In an interview with Aero Telegraph the following year, Mirzaee described her reaction to airport security officials remarking on her nationality whenever her passport is checked: "Yes, I am from Afghanistan, and I say it proudly."[6]

As of 2025, Mirzaee works as a cargo pilot for the same company as Veronika Borisova, whom she flew with on Afghanistan's all-female flight.[4] Commenting on the restrictions to women's participation in civic life in Afghanistan, Mirzaee stated: "Right now, we’re not using half of our population, so obviously, our country is not going to reach anywhere."[4]

Recognition

Mirzaee was included in the BBC's 100 Women 2021, a list of "inspiring and influential women from around the world" compiled annually.[18][22] She provided a quote aimed at readers: "Don’t wait! No-one will come and give you your wings if you don’t stand strong. I fought for mine; you will fight for yours".[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "محدثه میرزایی خلبان جوان زن افغانستان حالا در آسمان اروپا پرواز می‌کند" [Muhaddesa Mirzaei, a young female pilot from Afghanistan, is now flying in the skies of Europe]. BBC News فارسی (in Persian). 2023-04-30. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  2. ^ a b c d e Glinski, Stefanie (2021-11-16). "'If I can get a plane into the sky, I can do anything': female Afghan pilot refuses to be grounded". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  3. ^ a b Pelizzari, Marcello (2021-11-22). "«I keep the pieces of my heart together and hope to fly again.»". Corriere del Ticino (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jaafari, Shirin (2025-01-16). "They were part of Afghanistan's first-ever all-female flight. Then their lives were turned upside down". The World from PRX. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  5. ^ a b c Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (2021-02-28). "All Female Flight Crew In Afghanistan Makes History". NPR. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Recklies, Benjamin (2023-05-06). "Wie sich Afghanistans erste Pilotin nach Europa rettete" [How Afghanistan's first female pilot escaped to Europe]. aeroTELEGRAPH (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Amiri, Ehsanullah (2023-04-23). "She's jetting around Europe. But this history-making pilot dreams of Afghanistan's skies". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  8. ^ "Mohadese Mirzaee, première femme afghane pilote de ligne, contrainte à l'exil, se bat pour piloter de nouveau" [Mohadese Mirzaee, the first Afghan woman airline pilot, forced into exile, is fighting to fly again]. franceinfo (in French). 2021-11-18. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  9. ^ a b c d Nikolova, Veneta (12 July 2021). "First Afghan female pilot speaking to BNR after escape from the Taliban: "I will fly again!"". old-news.bnr.bg. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  10. ^ a b c Pallini, Thomas. "An airline in Afghanistan says it just flew the country's first flight with an all-female crew — here's what it was like onboard". Business Insider. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  11. ^ "Mohadese Mirzaee". www.afghan-bios.info. 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  12. ^ a b Press, Khaama (2021-02-27). "All-female flight crew makes history: Afghanistan". Khaama Press. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  13. ^ "First ever female commercial pilot from Afghanistan". RTE Radio. 2021-11-23. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  14. ^ "First all-female flight crew fly into Afghanistan aviation history books". MalaysiaNow. 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  15. ^ Calderwood, Dave (2021-03-08). "Afghan pilots break through with first all-female flight". Pilot Career News. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  16. ^ Derewienko, Emilia (16 March 2021). "Afganistan: Pierwszy lot wyłącznie z żeńską załogą" [Afghanistan: First all-female crew flight]. www.rynek-lotniczy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  17. ^ "Two weeks of chaos: A timeline of the U.S. pullout of Afghanistan". The Washington Post. 2022-08-10. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  18. ^ a b c "BBC 100 Women 2021: Who is on the list this year?". 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  19. ^ Newsday (2021-12-27). "A 'rollercoaster year' for Afghanistan's first female pilot". BBC. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  20. ^ Siddique, Abubakar (2021-12-10). "Gandhara Briefing: Afghan Women, Uzbeks And Turkmen, TTP". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  21. ^ "Afghanistan's First Female Commercial Airline Pilot Gets Back In The Air After Fleeing To Europe". Magazine Features. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
  22. ^ Akmal, Adeela (12 December 2021). "A glimpse of light". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2026-01-10.
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