Queen Suthida flies fighter jet solo to become Thailand's first female Gripen pilot

Thailand's Queen Suthida flew a Gripen fighter jet solo for the first time on Oct. 8, watched by King Maha Vajiralongkorn at an air base in Surat Thani Province. The 48-year-old queen took off in a single-seat JAS 39C Gripen from Wing 7 in Phun Phin District and flew for 41 minutes, according to a palace account carried by Thai business daily Krungthep Turakij.The king, 74, arrived at the base at 10:06 a.m. on a private visit and joined her for a briefing on the flight plan, The Nation reported.The couple then went to the aircraft shelter, where the queen inspected the jet before taking it to Runway 22 for takeoff, the outlet said.After she landed, the king gave her a bouquet and attached a Gripen Order Golden Patch to her left sleeve. The gold-embroidered badge came from the Gripen Order, an honorary association in Sweden, which accepted her as a full member, aviation news site AeroTime reported, citing the palace.The palace account names her as Thailand's first female Gripen pilot. Thailand's Queen Suthida in the cockpit of a Gripen fighter jet at the Wing 7 air base in Surat Thani Province, Thailand, Oct. 8, 2026. Photo courtesy of Bureau of the Royal Household The flight was part of a conversion course she took at the air force's invitation, following the standard syllabus for Thai Gripen pilots, according to Krungthep Turakij.She covered 45 academic and emergency-procedure subjects in June and July, flew 20 simulator sessions, then logged just over 10 hours in the two-seat JAS 39D before moving to the single-seat jet, the daily reported.She stayed in Surat Thani for two training stints, from Aug. 20 to Sept. 4 and from Sept. 25 to Oct. 8, The Nation said.The queen worked as a Thai Airways flight attendant before joining the security detail of the then-crown prince, according to Reuters.She made her first flight in May 2010 in an air force Cessna T-41. Palace figures put her total at more than 1,188 flying hours, over 450 of them on the Boeing 737-800.She holds an airline transport pilot license and a Boeing 737 type rating, and flies as the king's co-pilot on royal trips, according to The Nation.When the couple began a state visit to Vietnam on Sept. 14, the king landed the royal Boeing 737-800 at Hanoi's Noi Bai International Airport with the queen in the co-pilot's seat. They flew the same way into Bhutan's Paro airport, in a Himalayan valley, in April 2025.Wing 7 is home to Thailand's Gripen C/D squadron, in service since 2011. The air force has 11 of the Swedish-made jets after losing one in a 2017 air show crash, and ordered four newer Gripen E/F aircraft from Saab in August 2025, according to AeroTime.