JEDDAH — For the third consecutive day Tuesday, King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah has been a scene of overcrowding of the departing pilgrims who chose to squat on floors in the lounges for lack of sitting arrangements. Airport and Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) officials blamed Tawafah establishments for the congestion because they bring their pilgrims to the airport at least six hours before the flight's departure time. However, Turki Al-Dheeb, director of Saudia's department of information and public relations, expected the overcrowding to thin out very soon with the airlines increasing their daily Haj flights by about 10 percent. "The main reason behind the extremely large number of pilgrims at the airport is a lack of commitment by the Haj companies to the flight schedules," he said. Dheeb said companies tend to transport their departing pilgrims to the airport about six hours before flight time on the pretext of avoiding traffic bottlenecks and also to have enough time to process their passports easily. "Overcrowding at the airport has also caused flight delays of more than three hours sometimes," he said. Dheeb said all the chairs in the departure lounges were filled so pilgrims resorted to squatting on the floor. On Monday, Saudia operated 350 flights — 270 domestic and 80 international. "The airlines is increasing its daily flights by about 10 percent. This is expected to end the problem soon," he added. Dheeb said early arrival of some pilgrims at the airport may prevent others who come on time from finding a place to sit on or an empty counter to process their passports. He said according to the travel rules and regulations, passengers should arrive at the airport three hours before take-off. "Despite our repeated warnings, pilgrims come to the airport long before the departure time thus impeding our work, overoccupying the lounges and obstructing movement at the airport," he said. Dheeb said while some Haj companies bring their pilgrims to the airport earlier than schedule, others bring them too late which may cause them to miss their flights.
