The ministry said it would set up a monitoring committee to supervise movement of pilgrims, set up a center for dispatching pilgrims in groups and establish a checkpoint to ensure pilgrims possessed confirmed bookings.

The new measures came following the chaos and confusion created by thousands of Egyptian and Algerian pilgrims at KAIA last week. As a result many flights were either canceled or delayed.

Eissa Al-Rawass, deputy minister for Umrah affairs, said the supervising committees in Makkah and Madinah would make sure the baggage of pilgrims conformed to IATA regulations in terms of size and weight.

Al-Rawass said the ministry’s checkpoint would be at the entrance of airport’s terminals, adding that officials would check documents of pilgrims as well as the timings of their return flights. He said the ministry was coordinating with other relevant agencies on the return journey of Umrah pilgrims to ensure their smooth departures.

“We had obtained the flight schedules of all airlines carrying Umrah pilgrims and instructed Umrah service companies to transport their pilgrims to airport six hours before the departure of their flights,” he said.

“We had also instructed the Umrah companies that their pilgrims should abide by the baggage rules that it should not exceed 20x75x90cc and 30 kg,” local media quoted Al-Rawass as saying.

Al-Rawass described this year’s Ramadan Umrah season as the largest in history with the arrival of 4.93 million foreign pilgrims, registering an increase of 1.85 million compared to last year.

The largest contingents of Umrah pilgrims came from Iran, Egypt, Pakistan and Turkey.

On the first and second day of Eid Al-Fitr, 66,450 and 75,287 pilgrims left the Kingdom respectively, he said. On Ramadan 25, 7,590 pilgrims left while on Ramadan 27, 36,076, and Ramadan 29, 61,958, left the Kingdom for their home countries.

Meanwhile, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has blamed the pilgrims for the chaos created at KAIA last week. It said most pilgrims did not have confirmed bookings and carried huge pieces of baggage in violation of GACA and IATA regulations.

“Huge bundles of baggage accumulated near the weighing machines at the airport and this delayed flights. The ruckus created by some pilgrims who did not have confirmed bookings also added to the confusion.”

GACA also criticized the irresponsible behavior of some pilgrims, saying it put greater pressure on the airlines' frontline staff and resulted in some pilgrims missing their flights. It attributed the delay in some flights to operational reasons.

It said relevant authorities set up a joint operations room in order to deal with the situation and set out an emergency plan for the departure of all stranded pilgrims. GACA accused some Egyptian pilgrims of entering into the operation areas and departure halls, creating chaos and delaying flights.