Last week I climbed the escalator to the upper floor of King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) in Dammam. It is a spacious and magnificent terrace overlooking the entire place. It is so big it easily accommodates up to 2,000 people at a time. But looking around me I could see no more than 15 people scattered about the place, each one barely able to make out the faces of the others.
I reached the glass wall and looked down. It was endless open space down there. All I could see was five aircraft sitting on the tarmac; four belonging to Saudi Arabian Airlines and the fifth to Air-India.
I went down the escalator and strolled through the grandiose terminal. I think I may have crossed a distance of five to seven kilometers altogether. It was a beautiful stroll in an extremely beautiful place — except for one thing; you feel very lonely.
There were indeed a number of passengers and well-wishers as well as airport workers. I could have easily counted them to come out with an accurate figure, but I decided not to do so for fear no one would believe me. Some might even question my sanity. So I resorted to guessing and calculated that the total number of the people in that huge place could not be more than 500.
I asked myself: Does this number require such a magnificent airport? Why hasn’t all this been invested more wisely? In my mind I compared it with King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah. This is one of the most congested airports I have ever seen, especially during the annual Haj.
My flight to Jeddah was scheduled for 4.55 p.m. but the plane did not take off on time. Gate 123, through which we were to pass, did not open until 4.55 and the plane did not take off until 6.45. The captain apologized for the delay, which he attributed to technical reasons telling us it was for our safety.
The plane circled KFIA before disappearing into the sky.
At that moment I wished I could take that beautiful airport and put it in place of the one in Jeddah KFIA is a sad airport despite its magnificence, a beautiful airport in the wrong place.
