What if King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah handled as many flights as Heathrow, Frankfurt or Chicago International Airport? What if Saudi Arabian Airlines operated the same number of flights as Emirates and Lufthansa?
It is a fact that when the human body contracts a disease, its immune system becomes stronger so that it will not be affected by the same disease in the future. It seems that our airports, which are similar to human bodies, continue to suffer the same problems they experienced in the past. Delays and malfunctions occur periodically throughout the year, every year.
The summer vacation is like a nightmare for the majority of passengers who fly between Jeddah and Riyadh. In fact, passengers have become used to delayed flights. Some of them have become accustomed to waiting inside airplanes for an hour before takeoff. International flights might not have the same takeoff problems, but they experience other types of difficulties. The carousel might break down and passengers might be forced to wait for their baggage for lengthy periods of time. We all remember what happened last summer when there was a backlog of people at Jeddah airport awaiting their luggage.
The recent problems we had because of sandstorms cannot be justified. How can an airplane take off for a domestic flight without knowing the weather condition for the next 24 hours? If this information was available, then why were passengers not informed and told that their flights might be delayed and that they should keep in touch with their airline or the General Authority of Civil Aviation? What made matters worse was that there were no officials at the airport who passengers could consult. If there were some officials present, then discussions probably ended up in fights or quarrels.
It is clear that there is a need for a crisis management department at our airports. Airport officials need to realize that when flights are delayed, passengers experience nightmares. It is sometimes normal for flights to get delayed but not to the extent of what has recently happened in the Kingdom. Most airlines stopped operating because of sandstorms and the general situation inside airports was described as chaotic.
Generally speaking, the weather condition in the Kingdom is stable except during certain times of the year, such as March and April. What if our weather were unstable as is the case in Europe? What if there was heavy snow during winter? We should take lessons from neighboring Gulf countries and see how they run their airports. Let us forget about international airports because the difference between us and them is simply very large.
