Arriving at Jeddah airport, one must be forgiven for assuming that one may have landed at a wrong destination. In spite of being the Kingdom’s largest gateway, and its busiest port of entry, Jeddah airport continues to defy all odds and logic and remains pitifully rundown and antiquated.
For over a decade or more much has been said and written about the airport facilities, the lack of jet ways, the stifling environment within the terminals, especially during the summer months, the traumas of passenger steps when boarding an aircraft, lack of suitable parking, etc. And yet, very little has been forthcoming from those who administer this eyesore of an infrastructure.
To understand that, one has to realize that those who administer such public service organizations rarely subject themselves to the rigors and trials of the everyday passenger. They work out of superior climate-controlled offices, and when they travel, they hardly ever use the regular passenger terminals, the source of frustration to all those who use them.
Instead, they are driven to the VIP terminal where they may have a sip or two of fresh tea served to them in a pleasant environment while their underlings process their luggage and travel documents. All this before they are whisked away in cool waiting limousines to their aircraft.
None of that body-to-body squeeze in packed and often heated buses for these paid servants of the public. And they may be thus forgiven for not understanding how bad facilities are elsewhere.
In spite of millions and millions of riyals allocated by the government over the span of two decades to refurbish this airport, much remains unchanged. Most of the money seems to have been spent on countless studies by an equal number of countless and useless committees, all shelved for one reason or the other. With all that money, a whole new and state of-the-art airport could have been constructed.
And there is no urgency to address this persistent problem. Why should there be, if those administering such facilities rarely use them? It is only when the airport director and his immediate staff are made to drive up to the curb, check in at a ticket counter, wander around a dilapidated and often uncomfortably warm building, and check in for boarding will they realize how awful it is.
When his family struggles with their carry-ons as they go up on aircraft boarding steps in a blazing sun, with little children or elderly parents in tow, the director may realize what a wretched state we’re in. Or upon arrival, when he is swiftly dispatched to the VIP terminal by a waiting limousine, while the rest of the passengers have to squeeze themselves in smoldering buses before being herded into an equally unwelcoming terminal.
Isn’t it time that those salaried bureaucrats in charge are made to taste the fare they dish out to the rest of the public? There are no excuses for such a pitiful state of affairs, and none should be entertained. These civil servants and their predecessors must be held fully accountable for the clutter that calls itself KAIA (King Abdul Aziz International Airport).
Bahrain and Bali have better airport facilities, and for a far fewer number of passengers. When will it be Jeddah’s turn? When will heads roll?
