Saudi Arabian Airlines was not responsible for delayed and cancelled flights between Saudi Arabia and Egypt last weekend as a result of a strike by Cairo Airport air traffic control staff, said Khaled Abdullah Almolhem, the airline's Director General. The statement came after the strike which led to an overcrowding of passengers at Cairo Airport. The strike also affected flights that use Egyptian airspace. It forced the airline to use other airspace, which increased costs and delayed arrival times. Saudia's statement said, “Six flights were delayed from King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah, King Khaled Airport in Riyadh, King Fahd Airport in Dammam, Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madina and Abha Airport, while five flights were delayed from Cairo Airport.” It also said that two flights – from Abha and Dammam – to Cairo were forced to return when they could not get landing permission. Seven scheduled flights were cancelled from the Kingdom's airports and eight from Cairo to the Kingdom. Over 3,800 passengers were affected by the delays. Six Saudi Arabian Airline's flights were grounded in Cairo during the strike due to failure to get permission to take off, because of which Saudia had to pay extra fees for remaining on the runway for more than two hours. Saudia decided not to impose any fines for the cancellation of flights during the strike period, and has designated two additional Cairo-bound flights with the capacity of 941 seats, and three flights to Saudi Arabia with the capacity of 1,282 passengers. __
