JEDDAH — Pilgrims standing in queues at the airport for hours together is now a thing of the past as officials at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) have devised a new strategy that takes only 45 minutes for a pilgrim to complete all arrival formalities. Airport officials have implemented an integrated plan to best serve the pilgrims in cooperation with government departments and the involvement of the private sector. The new process reduces the amount of time that pilgrims spend to complete formalities from 3 to 4 hours in the past to 45 minutes now. The process starts as soon as pilgrims arrive at the airport. They are received by the health center that provides them with needed information. Then they move to the Passports Department booths, followed by the luggage area, customs department and the Haj section. Later the pilgrims go to the plaza where Haj missions are classified and organize buses heading to Makkah. Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, president of the General Authority of Civil Aviation, has instructed all employees at both KAIA in Jeddah and Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Madinah to exert all efforts to serve the pilgrims and visitors to the Prophet's Mosque. He has directed all employees to ease the arrival process for all pilgrims visiting the Kingdom. The Haj and Umrah terminal at KAIA is spread over 510,000 sq. meter and it includes an area to house 26 airplanes, 10 bridges, one monitoring bridge, 18 gates, 143 Passports Department counters and 254 travel counters. It also includes two VIP waiting areas, a hotel with 123 rooms and an area for commercial services and restaurants. Further services include 32 bathroom locations and several mosques. Madinah airport is expected to receive 1,421 flights from 33 different airlines. The airport has 7 Haj terminals that is extended on 10,000 sq. meters equipped with all necessary services.
