JEDDAH — The Sudanese pilgrims who were supposed to return to their country have been hosted by Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah after the flights were suspended following the current situation in Sudan. According to Al-Ekhbariya, the Sudanese passengers at the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah were safe and secure. The crisis management team at KAIA held an immediate meeting with the government and private agencies. Following the meeting, they took the appropriate action in the interest of the Sudanese travelers who were supposed to leave Saudi Arabia. There are three categories of Sudanese passengers in the airport, the first of which are Umrah pilgrims, the second are those who are in transit from another country, while the third ones are those who arrived via domestic transit. KAIA has stopped 5 flights directly heading to Khartoum, two returned while it was flying, and the other 3 were stopped at the airport. The total Sudanese passengers are 700. Amid the ongoing clashes in Sudan, King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah and King Khalid Airport in Riyadh called on travelers heading to Khartoum International Airport to communicate with the carrier before heading to the airport, to ensure updates on their flight schedules. Other Saudi-based airlines such as flynas and flyadeal have also suspended all flights to Sudan. It is worth mentioning that the Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) suspended all flights from and to Sudan until further notice, after its plane was shot at during the security events currently taking place in Sudan. The incident took place at Khartoum International Airport. Saudia said that one of its planes, Airbus 4330, Flight No. (59458) was shot before it took off for Riyadh at 7:30 a.m., Saturday, which caused damages to the plane while it was preparing for the return flight. It added that the plane's crew and guests were on board. Saudia has confirmed that all crew members have arrived in the Saudi Embassy in Khartoum.
