RIYADH, 31 March 2003 — Passenger loads on buses and taxis to Jordan, Syria, Turkey and other destinations on the Iraqi border have declined by 75 percent, according to transport companies operating luxury buses on the Arab and international routes.
Most of the frequent overland travelers to many Gulf destinations besides Amman, Cairo, Kuwait and Iraqi border towns are staying closer to home. Road trips to Jordan and Syria have been stopped since the eruption of war against Iraq.
More than 1,500 buses owned by over 30 international transport companies have suspended their passenger and goods carrying services.
The Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company (SAPTCO), presently covers 40 percent of the total requirement of buses in Saudi Arabia. It has been operating buses to various international destinations including the Gulf states of Jordan, Syria, Sudan and Egypt.
SAPTCO, which made a profit of SR70 million last year, is expecting losses this year due to the war.
Muhammad Ali Al-Yousefi, an agent of the Yemen-based Al-Robyan Transport Company, said many passengers scheduled to travel to Kuwait and the Iraqi border towns inside the Kingdom’s territory have abandoned their plans.
Saudi Arabia has a 200-km border with Kuwait and an 830-km border with Iraq.
Al-Yousefi said a trend toward merging the bus trips was borne out of a fear that transport companies could incur huge losses if the war dragged on.
“The number of passengers traveling from the Kingdom to Yemen and vice-versa has also dropped sharply,” said Al-Yousefi.
Abdullah Adeeb, a frequent traveler by land transport, said that bookings on buses plying on Arab routes had dropped by 70 to 90 percent.
“Thousands of people have canceled bookings and postponed their travel plans for security reasons,” said Adeeb.
