Airlines and aviation industry companies are gearing up for International Women’s Day on March 8 with an array of  announcements.

On March 7, Avia Solutions Group-owned charter business Chapman Freeborn said it had promoted Catriona Taylor to global supplier relations director and Jenny van Wyk to country manager – South Africa, both newly-created positions.

“The key to Chapman Freeborn’s success has always been our strong supplier relationships, and I’m looking forward to cementing our global network even further, keeping up with the momentum we’ve built over the years and forging new relationships with suppliers across the world,” said Taylor.

International Airlines Group-owned Vueling said it “establishes gender parity throughout its workforce” as 51% of its staff “is represented by female talent”. Twenty-eight of its 65 leaders and managers are women, the carrier said.

Iberia, another IAG carrier, said it increased its percentage of women in senior positions from 18 to 34% between 2018 and 2022 and aimed to hit 40% by 2025.

Meanwhile Manchester City and shirt sponsor Etihad Airways have claimed to have shown that “the sky is the limit for four aspiring 9 – 12 year old female footballers from the United Arab Emirates”.
“Madiyah, 12, Meriel and Sura, both 11, and Zarah, 9, who all attend the City Football Schools in the UAE, got the surprise of their lives as footballers Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp and Hayley Raso personally invited them to Manchester where they met their role models from the club and led the Manchester City team out of the tunnel, in front of a sell-out crowd, as match-day mascots when the team recently faced Arsenal in the Women’s Super League”, the two companies announced.