RIYADH, Sept 17: About 150 Saudi pilots of the MD-90 aircraft are unable to fly the Saudi Arabian Airlines aeroplanes because of a refusal by the US authorities to issue visas.

All the pilots are required to complete their training from the US. Because of non-issuance of visas these pilots are unable to complete their training on MD-90 aircraft, which is not available in country other than the US.

The pilots are now without jobs. The airline is trying to solve the problem by sending them to European countries.

The US authorities had cancelled the licence of some pilots, despite their long hours of flying.

There are speculations that authorities in the United States have sought the dismissal form service of 25 of the pilots. The Saudia is now trying out alternatives to tackle the situation.

It recently sent eight pilots to Britain for training. It is also building an aviation-training centre in the kingdom to find a permanent solution to the problem.

The US authorities have blacklisted a number of Saudi pilots after the Sept 11 attacks.

SAUDI STUDENTS: The head of the consular section at the Saudi embassy in Washington that the number of Saudi students in the US had dropped dramatically.

“More than 60 students did not come back after the summer vacation because of delays in getting visas,” he said.

He also indicated that the US authorities had detained 18 Saudis for allegedly violating visa and traffic regulations. However, he said there were no Saudi political prisoners in US jails.