Cameras and inspectors did not detect any congestion at King Abdulaziz International Airport here, according to Khaled Al-Khaibari, spokesman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). Any overcrowding would have been handled by the field teams, he added. The GACA has a plan, developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Haj and foreign airlines, to prevent congestion and delays at Haj terminals. Al-Khaibari said that GACA submits regular reports to the Higher Haj Commission, the Central Haj Committee and other relevant government bodies on the progress of departing flights. He said the Haj terminals were not allowing any pilgrim to have luggage weighing over 32 kilograms. While services were generally good, including fining people SR200 for smoking in the airport, there are some areas that need to be improved, said Al-Khaibari. This includes tackling the garbage lying all over the airport. A Ministry of Haj official said that reports are submitted regularly on cleanliness at the airport. There are also fines slapped on the contracted cleaning company. “The company seems to be okay with all the financial deductions,” he said. Traffic police sources said that the Unified Agents Office has not played its part to prevent traffic congestion at the airport. This is because the cars loaded with the luggage of passengers arrive and stay at the airport a day or two before the passengers arrive. Another issue observed was that many pilgrims were seen looking for their luggage after workers recklessly left them on the airport's pavement. The Unified Agents Office has also not played its role on this issue, the sources said. More than 130,000 pilgrims have so far left King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madina aboard 502 flights, GACA announced Monday. __
