“This year we have been successful in organizing the outbound flights of Umrah pilgrims and the flow of flights was smooth,” said Waleed Aloloumi, manager media relations at the airline.

However, he confirmed that there were flight delays on Monday. “We are trying to solve the problem caused by the delays. Flights are now leaving on schedule. By tomorrow (Wednesday) all problems will be resolved,” he said.

During the last nights of Ramadan every year, pilgrims rush to catch flights to reach home to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr. But only those who have confirmed bookings can fly.

“It’s those who do not have confirmed bookings that cause confusion,” he said.

Khaled Al-Khaibary, spokesman of the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), agreed with Aloloumi and said the flights carrying pilgrims were smooth until Aug. 28. The KAIA was handling 150 to 200 flights daily during the holy month.

Arab News visited the airport during the last 10 days of Ramadan and did not find large numbers of pilgrims squatting in the airport to catch flights. Some websites reported that a number of Saudia officials were injured when passengers whose flights were delayed turned violent.