JEDDAH, 19 November 2004 — Chaos reigned as hundreds of passengers jostled, pushed and shouted at each other at King Abdul Aziz International Airport here yesterday to make their way into the boarding area.
Airport police have been shutting the doors of the foreign airlines terminal intermittently during the Eid holidays to prevent overcrowding inside the terminal.
Arab News spoke to three policemen who were arriving for duty as part of the night shift. They were caught in the mess outside the terminal and were not able to enter. “This is the worst I have ever seen. There is no one in charge and everyone is getting more angry and more frustrated. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people start fighting,” said Saad Al-Ghamdi, an airport policeman.
The passengers were put to immense hardship as they failed to make their way into the airport in time and many of them missed their flights. Passengers of over 16 flights were lined up at one gate only, that too a small one. All other gates were closed which resulted in hundreds of people crowding around that gate. The scene was reminiscent of any crowded market place. The situation was so bad that there were chances of a stampede at the gate.
An airline official who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “The problem has been aggravated due to lack of planning on the part of the airport security and other officials. They have opened only one gate between Bay No. 2 and Bay No. 3 for the passengers to check in for about 16 flights.”
The airline official further said “there is only one baggage security machine at the inner gates which results in the piling up of luggage near the gates. At least two security machines should be there at each gate to clear the luggage fast.”
A British national and his wife who came to the airport to board a Dubai-bound flight were unable to cope with the situation and stood aside. Passenger Chris Carey said, “It is not only ridiculous but torturous to come to the airport five-six hours before the flight and then fight with your fellow passengers to get into the airport.”
Adelaide-bound Australian Ibrahim Noor said, “I’m standing in the queue for an hour but have not moved three steps even. I don’t know what’s happening at the check-in gate, why they are not clearing passengers fast.”
There were many passengers who missed their flights because they could not reach the check-in gate on time. On Tuesday, many passengers missed the EgyptAir flight to Sharm El-Sheikh.
Airline officials confirmed flights were being delayed daily for hours and many passengers were still unable to board the flights.
“We are delaying the flights for an hour or two every day to accommodate passengers but we too have limitations. We cannot delay flights indefinitely. There is limited parking area for the aircraft at the terminal as well as other logistical problems.”
A Sudanese national, Mustafa Al-Khazeem, said his flight was at Bay No. 3 and the gate from which he was entering was near Bay No. 1. “After entering the gate again I will have to run toward Bay No. 3 to check in. Instead of allowing people to use one gate, more gates should have been opened,” he said.
Many others expressed similar sentiments. Masood Ahmad Siddiqui, an Indian, was livid with anger and disgust over the situation. He said, “I fail to understand why only one gate is being used and all others are closed. If it is due to security reasons then the security must be increased.”
Many people blamed airlines too for the mess at the airport. A Lahore-bound passenger, Ehasanul Haq, said, “the airlines issue tickets with confirmed bookings when there really are no seats available. As a result, a lot of passengers camp at the airport in the hope of getting a seat on any return flight. But, because of the rush this doesn’t happen.”
“I came in time for the flight and they wouldn’t let me inside the airport. Now my family and me are stranded here until there are openings. The airline people are saying maybe we can get out on Friday’s flights,” said Iftikhar Ul-Haq, a Pakistani performing Umrah with his mother, wife, son and two daughters. “There is no way in the world they can get all of us on the same flight. We had made a budget complete with accommodations, transport and everything. Everything went according to the plan until it was time for us to go back home which was three days ago. The little bit of money remaining with us will not feed us and provide us with shelter until Friday,” he continued.
