/* Aljaweea — footer "Cookie Preferences" link opens the Complianz banner.
* Original by Digency (19 Aug 2026); amended 8 Sep 2026, runbook 5.14:
* - e.preventDefault() so the href="#" no longer scrolls the page to the top;
* - calls Complianz's own cmplz_set_banner_status('show') and falls back to
* clicking the (hidden) Manage-consent button if that function is absent.
* Rollback: restore the original 12-line version recorded in the runbook. */
document.addEventListener('click', function (e) {
var link = e.target.closest('.cmplz-show-banner');
if (!link) { return; }
e.preventDefault();
if (typeof cmplz_set_banner_status === 'function') {
cmplz_set_banner_status('show');
} else {
document.querySelectorAll('.cmplz-manage-consent').forEach(function (btn) { btn.click(); });
}
});
Recognised as the world’s largest flight simulation exhibition, FlightSimWeekend 2026, recently concluded at the Aviodrome Aviation Museum in Lelystad, the Netherlands, drawing 5,000 physical attendees and an online audience exceeding 50,000.
Regional simulator growth
The MENA flight simulation community operates not only as a consumer hobbyist space but also as a multi-million-dollar commercial pilot and ATC training pipeline. The Middle East Civil Aviation Flight Training Market is expanding rapidly, currently valued at approximately $460.59 million by Mordor Intelligence and is forecast to exceed $700 million by 2030.
Tackling the pilot shortage: Emirates & Flydubai Invest
Regional consumer engagement is also massive, with virtual airlines like Emirates Virtual commanding user bases of over 1,600 pilots who meticulously replicate real-world commercial schedules. VATMENA, the Virtual Air Traffic Simulation Network (VATSIM) for the Middle East and North Africa, is also highly popular, offering realistic online air traffic control and flight simulation across the region from Morocco to Oman, encouraging members to join local vACCs.
Where are arab developers?
Yet there was a distinct absence in the exhibition halls. Despite the event serving as the premier global hub for virtual aviation and Gulf airports and airlines’ dominance in real-world aviation, operating some of the world’s most lucrative and heavily simulated fleets, corporate representation from the 22 Arabic-speaking MENA nations was entirely nonexistent.
Given the combination of dedicated MENA enthusiast engagement and immense regional commercial capital, the complete absence of any Arab developers on the exhibition floor is a surprising industry anomaly. That is not to say that the MENA digital aviation world was not represented. In fact, it was a dominant topic.
Monetising MENA Airspace
It appears that there has been an aggressive digital commodification of the Arab skies, which the Arab world itself is not part of. Western developers continuously monetise the MENA airspace, airports and airline brands, yet MENA representation remains absent from the monetisation of its own digital infrastructure and brands.
GCC Brands in MSFS: UK studios capitalise on Arab infrastructure
A “Titanium Partner” at the event, iniBuilds, a UK-based studio, has launched digital twins of Qatari and Emirati real-world airline fleets (Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways ) and airport hubs such as Hamad International Airport (DOH|OTHH) in Qatar and Dubai International Airport (DXB|OMDB) in the UAE with additional local ‘landmarks packages’, for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Aljaweea asked CEO Ubaid Mussa whether his team partners with MENA aviation authorities or local companies. “We use open source data. If we could generate partnerships with regional airports, we would love that.”
Egypt: Target european leisure
Developer FSDG (Flight Sim Development Group), a well-known flight simulator scenery developer based in Germany, represented Egypt’s Hurghada International Airport (HRG|HEGN), located on the Red Sea coast and the second-busiest airport in Egypt, behind only Cairo International. The explicit marketing of this asset as a destination for European leisure flights reveals the industry’s structural biases. The Egyptian asset is prioritised for development due to it being a Western travel and tourism utility, not to serve the domestic Egyptian flight simulation community.
Combat and commerce: Flight simulators map middle east conflict
The military sector is driven by Eagle Dynamics, creator of Digital Combat Simulator (DCS), headquartered in Villars-sur-Glâne, Switzerland, with staff distributed globally. While DCS heavily maps the Levant and MENA, Eagle Dynamics offers a dedicated “Syria” map for post-civil war combat simulation. Ongoing engineering also maps southern Iraq and the Gulf for historical scenarios like ‘Operation Provide Comfort’. For many virtual pilots, the MENA territories simply function as simulated theatres of conflict.
Bridging the linguistic divide: SimBitWorld & Microsoft Updates
Perhaps the most significant and consequential representation of the MENA region at FSWeekend 2026 emerged through vital software localisation and linguistic integration. Two distinct updates demonstrate the attempt to bridge the technical gap with the Arabic-speaking demographic.
Romanian developer SimBitWorld’s ‘PA Expansion’ for A Pilot’s Life: Chapter 2 significantly enhances realism by adding fourteen distinct language accents, including “(AR) ARABIC.” This inclusion is a rare and monumental step, providing auditory assets specifically for the Arabic-speaking environment and moving beyond visual representations to offer genuine cultural immersion.
Microsoft is also finally addressing its linguistic technical issue; Sim Update 4 for MSFS corrects the broken Right-to-Left rendering of Arabic text on adaptive displays. Previously, the engine processed the script from left-to-right, rendering the text entirely illegible to Arabic users. That this failure survived within the core architecture until 2026 suggests that the MENA market was an afterthought in quality assurance testing.
Capitalising on gulf demand
Still, the industry quietly banks on the region’s financial power. Platinum sponsor Flight Panels, a Belfast-based company specialising in creating premium ‘Stream Deck’ profiles for flight simulators, supports the United Arab Emirates Dirham (AED) on its storefront, underscoring the Gulf’s highly lucrative consumer base.
The absence of arab tech: Where is local innovation?
The aviation simulation industry uses the MENA region as a premium digital asset to be harvested and sold. Why do you think that MENA representation and local software companies are so visibly absent from the global exhibition floor?
Stay informed. Get the latest aviation and space news from the Arab world on WhatsApp and Telegram as soon as it is published, or subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly round-up. You can also add us to your preferred sources to see more of our stories in Google Search.
We use cookies to run this site, to measure readership and to show the advertising that funds our journalism. In your region, non-essential cookies stay off until you accept them. Accept all, deny all, or choose by category. You can change your choice at any time via the Cookie Preferences link at the bottom of every page.
Functional Always active
Needed for the site to work: your language, your cookie choice, form security and the WordPress session. Always active.
Preferences
Remember settings you have chosen so that you do not have to set them again on your next visit.
Statistics
Google Analytics, to see which articles are read, from where and on which devices. IP addresses are shortened before storage.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Advertising served by Google AdSense, embedded videos and social-media buttons, and measurement pixels for our own posts on social platforms.
We use cookies to run this site, to measure readership and to show the advertising that funds our journalism. They are active unless you deny them here. You can change your choice at any time via the Cookie Preferences link at the bottom of every page.
Functional Always active
Needed for the site to work: your language, your cookie choice, form security and the WordPress session. Always active.
Preferences
Remember settings you have chosen so that you do not have to set them again on your next visit.
Statistics
Google Analytics, to see which articles are read, from where and on which devices. IP addresses are shortened before storage.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Advertising served by Google AdSense, embedded videos and social-media buttons, and measurement pixels for our own posts on social platforms.
var molongui_authorship_byline_params = {"byline_modifiers_enabled":"","byline_prefix":"","byline_suffix":"","byline_separator":",\u00a0","byline_last_separator":"\u00a0and\u00a0","byline_link_title":"View all posts by","byline_link_class":"","byline_dom_tree":"","byline_dom_prepend":"","byline_dom_append":"","byline_decoder":"v3","byline_data_url":"https://aljaweea.com/wp-json/molongui-authorship/v1/bylines","byline_rest_nonce":""};
//# sourceURL=molongui-authorship-byline-js-extra
var tie = {"is_rtl":"","ajaxurl":"https://aljaweea.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?lang=en","is_side_aside_light":"","is_taqyeem_active":"","is_sticky_video":"1","mobile_menu_top":"","mobile_menu_active":"area_1","mobile_menu_parent":"","lightbox_all":"true","lightbox_gallery":"true","lightbox_skin":"dark","lightbox_thumb":"horizontal","lightbox_arrows":"true","is_singular":"1","autoload_posts":"","reading_indicator":"true","lazyload":"","select_share":"","select_share_twitter":"true","select_share_facebook":"true","select_share_linkedin":"true","select_share_email":"true","facebook_app_id":"5303202981","twitter_username":"","responsive_tables":"true","ad_blocker_detector":"","sticky_behavior":"default","sticky_desktop":"true","sticky_mobile":"true","sticky_mobile_behavior":"default","ajax_loader":"\u003Cdiv class=\"loader-overlay\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"spinner-circle\"\u003E\u003C/div\u003E\u003C/div\u003E","type_to_search":"1","lang_no_results":"Nothing Found","sticky_share_mobile":"","sticky_share_post":"","sticky_share_post_menu":""};
//# sourceURL=tie-scripts-js-extra
let cmplzBlockedContent = document.querySelector('.cmplz-blocked-content-notice');
if ( cmplzBlockedContent) {
cmplzBlockedContent.addEventListener('click', function(event) {
event.stopPropagation();
});
}
//# sourceURL=cmplz-cookiebanner-js-after
/* Accessibility quick fixes (WCAG 2.2 AA test, 27 Oct 2026). Safe to switch off.
1 skip link · 2 form autofill · 3 language switcher name · 4 dark-mode button name and state
5 mobile menu state and focus · 6 heading levels for screen readers · 7 author photos
8 form errors linked to fields · 9 "opens in a new tab" for screen readers · 10 main content area */
(function () {
var isAr = (document.documentElement.lang || '').toLowerCase().indexOf('ar') === 0;
var T = isAr
? { skip: 'تخطَّ إلى المحتوى الرئيسي', dark: 'الوضع المظلم', newTab: ' (يُفتح في علامة تبويب جديدة)' }
: { skip: 'Skip to main content', dark: 'Dark mode', newTab: ' (opens in a new tab)' };function visible(el) {
if (!el) { return false; }
var r = el.getBoundingClientRect(), s = getComputedStyle(el);
return r.width > 0 && r.height > 0 && s.visibility !== 'hidden' && s.display !== 'none' && r.right > 0 && r.left < window.innerWidth;
}function run() {
/* 1. Skip link (WCAG 2.4.1): jumps to the first block after the site header */
var header = document.getElementById('theme-header');
var target = header ? header.nextElementSibling : null;
while (target && (target.tagName === 'SCRIPT' || target.tagName === 'STYLE')) { target = target.nextElementSibling; }
if (target && !document.querySelector('.aj-skip-link')) {
if (!target.id) { target.id = 'aj-main'; }
if (!target.hasAttribute('tabindex')) { target.setAttribute('tabindex', '-1'); }
var a = document.createElement('a');
a.className = 'aj-skip-link';
a.href = '#' + target.id;
a.textContent = T.skip;
a.addEventListener('click', function () { setTimeout(function () { target.focus({ preventScroll: true }); }, 0); });
document.body.insertBefore(a, document.body.firstChild);
}/* 10. Main content area (WCAG 1.3.1): pages with none (the home pages) get one */
if (target && !document.querySelector('main, [role="main"]') && !target.querySelector('footer, #footer')) {
target.setAttribute('role', 'main');
}/* 2. Form autofill (WCAG 1.3.5) */
var inputs = document.querySelectorAll('form input');
for (var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++) {
var el = inputs[i];
if (el.getAttribute('autocomplete')) { continue; }
var n = (el.name || '').toLowerCase();
var l = ((el.labels && el.labels[0] && el.labels[0].textContent) || el.getAttribute('aria-label') || el.placeholder || '').toLowerCase().trim();
var v = null;
if (el.type === 'email') { v = 'email'; }
else if (el.type === 'tel' || (/phone|هاتف|جوال/.test(l) && !/mail|بريد/.test(l))) { v = 'tel'; }
else if (/first_name/.test(n)) { v = 'given-name'; }
else if (/last_name/.test(n)) { v = 'family-name'; }
else if (el.type === 'text' && /^(name|full name|الاسم|الإسم)\b/.test(l)) { v = 'name'; }
else if (el.type === 'url') { v = 'url'; }
if (v) { el.setAttribute('autocomplete', v); }
}/* 3. Language switcher (WCAG 2.4.4, 3.1.2): name the target language in that language */
var sw = document.querySelectorAll('a.lang-toggle');
for (var s = 0; s < sw.length; s++) {
var toAr = /\/ar(\/|$)/.test(sw[s].getAttribute('href') || '');
var name = toAr ? 'العربية' : 'English';
sw[s].setAttribute('aria-label', name);
sw[s].setAttribute('title', name);
sw[s].setAttribute('lang', toAr ? 'ar' : 'en');
sw[s].setAttribute('hreflang', toAr ? 'ar' : 'en');
var ims = sw[s].querySelectorAll('img');
for (var k = 0; k < ims.length; k++) { ims[k].setAttribute('alt', ''); }
}/* 4. Dark-mode button (WCAG 4.1.2): clear name, behaves as a toggle button that reports on/off */
var skins = document.querySelectorAll('a.change-skin');
function isDark() { return document.documentElement.classList.contains('dark-skin'); }
function syncSkin() { for (var q = 0; q < skins.length; q++) { skins[q].setAttribute('aria-pressed', isDark() ? 'true' : 'false'); } }
for (var d = 0; d < skins.length; d++) {
skins[d].setAttribute('role', 'button');
skins[d].setAttribute('aria-label', T.dark);
skins[d].setAttribute('title', T.dark);
skins[d].addEventListener('click', function () { setTimeout(syncSkin, 300); });
skins[d].addEventListener('keydown', function (e) { if (e.key === ' ') { e.preventDefault(); this.click(); } });
}
syncSkin();/* 5. Mobile menu (WCAG 4.1.2, 2.4.3): report open/closed, move focus in on open and back on close */
var btn = document.getElementById('mobile-menu-icon');
var panel = document.querySelector('.side-aside');
if (btn && panel) {
btn.setAttribute('role', 'button');
btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
if (!panel.id) { panel.id = 'aj-mobile-menu'; }
btn.setAttribute('aria-controls', panel.id);
var check = function (moveFocus) {
setTimeout(function () {
var open = visible(panel);
btn.setAttribute('aria-expanded', open ? 'true' : 'false');
if (open && moveFocus) {
var first = panel.querySelector('a[href]:not(.close-side-aside), button');
if (first) { first.focus(); }
}
if (!open && moveFocus === 'back') { btn.focus(); }
}, 450);
};
btn.addEventListener('click', function () { check(true); });
var closers = panel.querySelectorAll('.close-side-aside');
for (var c = 0; c < closers.length; c++) { closers[c].addEventListener('click', function () { check('back'); }); }
document.addEventListener('keydown', function (e) {
if (e.key === 'Escape' && btn.getAttribute('aria-expanded') === 'true') {
setTimeout(function () {
/* the theme closes the menu on Escape in English but not in Arabic */
var x = panel.querySelector('.close-side-aside');
if (visible(panel) && x) { x.click(); }
check('back');
}, 150);
}
});
}/* 6. Heading levels (WCAG 1.3.1): no jumps for screen readers; looks unchanged */
var hs = document.querySelectorAll('h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6');
var prev = 0, hasH1 = !!document.querySelector('h1');
for (var h = 0; h < hs.length; h++) {
if (!visible(hs[h]) && !hs[h].closest('.side-aside')) { continue; }
var lvl = parseInt(hs[h].tagName.charAt(1), 10);
var eff = lvl;
if (!hasH1 && prev === 0) { eff = 1; }
else if (prev && lvl > prev + 1) { eff = prev + 1; }
if (eff !== lvl) { hs[h].setAttribute('aria-level', String(eff)); }
prev = eff;
}/* 7. Author photos: describe a linked photo by the author's name (it is the link's name); otherwise decorative */
var boxes = document.querySelectorAll('.about-author, .author-box, .m-a-box, .molongui-author-box');
for (var b = 0; b < boxes.length; b++) {
var pics = boxes[b].querySelectorAll('img');
for (var p = 0; p < pics.length; p++) {
var lk = pics[p].closest('a[href]');
var who = '';
if (lk) {
var byline = document.querySelector('a.author-name[href="' + lk.getAttribute('href') + '"]');
var strong = boxes[b].querySelector('.m-a-box-bio strong, [itemprop="name"]');
who = ((byline && byline.textContent) || (strong && strong.textContent) || '').trim();
}
if (lk && !who) { continue; } /* name not found: keep the existing description so the link keeps a name */
pics[p].setAttribute('alt', who);
}
}/* 9. "Opens in a new tab" for screen-reader users (W3C technique G201) */
var blanks = document.querySelectorAll('a[target="_blank"]');
for (var t = 0; t < blanks.length; t++) {
if (blanks[t].querySelector('.aj-newtab')) { continue; }
var sr = document.createElement('span');
sr.className = 'screen-reader-text aj-newtab';
sr.textContent = T.newTab;
blanks[t].appendChild(sr);
if (blanks[t].hasAttribute('aria-label')) { blanks[t].setAttribute('aria-label', blanks[t].getAttribute('aria-label') + T.newTab); }
}
}/* 8. Form errors (WCAG 3.3.1): link each error message to its field when it appears */
function linkErrors(root) {
var errs = (root || document).querySelectorAll('.ff-el-group .error, .ff-el-group .text-danger');
for (var e = 0; e < errs.length; e++) {
var grp = errs[e].closest('.ff-el-group');
var field = grp ? grp.querySelector('input:not([type=hidden]), select, textarea') : null;
if (!field) { continue; }
if (!errs[e].id) { errs[e].id = 'aj-err-' + Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 9); }
var ids = (field.getAttribute('aria-describedby') || '').split(' ').filter(Boolean);
if (ids.indexOf(errs[e].id) === -1) { ids.push(errs[e].id); field.setAttribute('aria-describedby', ids.join(' ')); }
}
}
function watchForms() {
var forms = document.querySelectorAll('form.frm-fluent-form');
if (!window.MutationObserver) { return; }
for (var f = 0; f < forms.length; f++) {
new MutationObserver(function () { linkErrors(); }).observe(forms[f], { childList: true, subtree: true });
}
}function start() { run(); watchForms(); }
if (document.readyState === 'loading') { document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', start); } else { start(); }
})();
/* Aljaweea newsletter form (form 10): on Arabic pages, pre-select the Arabic edition.
2 Nov 2026 (Claude, runbook 8.82). Decision D-05 asks for the page language to be pre-selected through
the WPML translation of the field's default value; WPML does not offer that value for translation,
so this is the flagged fallback. The stored values stay "English" / "العربية" for the FluentCRM tag routing.
Rollback: set this snippet to Draft (the Arabic page then pre-selects English). */
(function () {
function run() {
if (!/^ar/i.test(document.documentElement.lang || '')) { return; }
var radios = document.querySelectorAll('form.fluent_form_10 input[type="radio"][name="dropdown"]');
for (var i = 0; i < radios.length; i++) {
if (radios[i].value === 'العربية') { radios[i].checked = true; radios[i].dispatchEvent(new Event('change', { bubbles: true })); }
}
}
/* Runs whether or not the page has finished loading (Breeze may delay scripts). */
if (document.readyState === 'loading') { document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', run); } else { run(); }
})();
/* Aljaweea forms: let Fluent Forms show its own error messages.
2 Nov 2026 (Claude, runbook 8.86; finding V-1 of the 8.85 test). Without this, the browser's own email check
stops the form when an address has no "@" and shows the browser's pop-up in the browser's language (English on
Arabic pages for most visitors), so our message from the forms standard (1.4) never appears.
"novalidate" switches off only the browser's own check: Fluent Forms still checks every field in the browser
and again on the server, so a badly formed address is still refused - now with our wording, in the page language.
Rollback: set this snippet to Draft. */
(function () {
function run() {
var forms = document.querySelectorAll('form.frm-fluent-form');
for (var i = 0; i < forms.length; i++) { forms[i].setAttribute('novalidate', 'novalidate'); }
}
/* Runs whether or not the page has finished loading (Breeze may delay scripts). */
if (document.readyState === 'loading') { document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', run); } else { run(); }
})();
ai_front = {"insertion_before":"BEFORE","insertion_after":"AFTER","insertion_prepend":"PREPEND CONTENT","insertion_append":"APPEND CONTENT","insertion_replace_content":"REPLACE CONTENT","insertion_replace_element":"REPLACE ELEMENT","visible":"VISIBLE","hidden":"HIDDEN","fallback":"FALLBACK","automatically_placed":"Automatically placed by AdSense Auto ads code","cancel":"Cancel","use":"Use","add":"Add","parent":"Parent","cancel_element_selection":"Cancel element selection","select_parent_element":"Select parent element","css_selector":"CSS selector","use_current_selector":"Use current selector","element":"ELEMENT","path":"PATH","selector":"SELECTOR"};
