All you need to know about Adeola Sowemimo, first Nigerian woman to fly Boeing 787 | Read More 

All you need to know about Adeola Sowemimo, first Nigerian woman to fly Boeing 787 | Read More 

 

Captain Adeola Ogunmola Sowemimo has become Nigeria’s first female Boeing 787 pilot, flying long-distance routes for Qatar Airways.

 

The airplane can reach speeds of Mach 0.85, or about 1,024 kilometers per hour with 250 passengers onboard.

Adeola was born on October 16, 1990, in Kaduna state, Nigeria. She went to several schools in both Kaduna and Ibadan due to challenges like religious conflicts.

She completed her secondary education at First Baptist Model High School in Kaduna in 2007.

 

After completing secondary school, she started a pre-degree course at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Oyo State.

She enrolled at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology in Zaria. She completed her aviation training from 2009 to 2010 before going to Florida, USA, for further training at Sunrise Aviation Inc.

 

Once her pilot training was done, Adeola returned to Nigeria to start her flying career.

In 2013, Adeola began working for Medview Airlines in Lagos as a First Officer on Boeing 737 planes.

Her skills quickly earned her a promotion to fly the Boeing 767-300ER. But her biggest breakthrough came in 2018 when she joined Qatar Airways as the first Nigerian woman to pilot the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

 

Her skills have taken her on transatlantic flights with the Boeing 767, and in 2020, she started flying the Lagos-to-Abuja route for Qatar Airways. Adeola now joins a group of pioneering African female pilots like Chinyere Kalu, Nigeria’s first female commercial pilot, and Asli Hassan Abade, Somalia’s first female aviator.

Captain Adeola is not just a successful pilot; she’s also a wife and mother. She married Seun Funmi Olamilekan Sowemimo on April 22, 2017, and together they have a family.