Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen has said that there are more than 200 pilots without jobs.

At a press conference held at the President's Office today, Ameen said that in the three years before the previous government came to power, more than 500 students were given the opportunity to study piloting for political purposes.

Ameen said that when those 500 students were sent to study piloting, more than 200 students were already studying piloting, and as a result, a large backlog of unemployed pilots has been created with students who have completed their piloting studies.

"When you get a pilot's license from a flying school, they're just cadet pilots. You can't run any airline with those pilots, you know. There are probably more than 200 students in the Maldives now who have got pilot licenses and are without jobs," Ameen said.

Ameen said that there are only two companies in the Maldives that can hire cadet pilots, which are the national airline Maldivian and Trans Maldives Airways (TMA). He said that even if these two companies are combined, they cannot employ more than 25 cadet pilots.

Noting that he had talked about such issues for pilots before taking up the ministerial position, Ameen said that the government is working on changing courses for students who have received loans to study piloting and their parents through discussions. He said that some students have already changed their courses.