JEDDAH, 1 February 2005 — Indian Haj pilgrims returning home with private tour operators have been subjected to long waits due to Air-India’s flight delays.
While India’s national carrier has given the congestion at the Haj Terminal and “technical problems” in its aircraft as the reasons for the delays, pilgrims complain that they have been virtually left to fend for themselves, as there is no official guidance or information. A group of 400 pilgrims heading to Calicut was stranded for several hours. Thirty of them reached Haj Terminal earlier and spent two days at the airport before leaving for home.
The group belongs to the Sunni Yuwa Jana Sangham based in Kerala. Ahmed Kutty, an aggrieved member of the group who hails from Tellicherry, near Calicut, said: “We arrived at the terminal from Makkah on Saturday as directed by the Mutawwif’s office. We waited there without food for several hours. Instead of sympathizing with the group that had old men and women, the A-I staff questioned us as to why we were there. We told them that we had confirmed bookings for the 10 a.m. flight on Sunday. After long arguments, A-I agreed to provide us accommodation in Al-Afaf Hotel, near the Compass Roundabout. We were served with late lunch followed by dinner at the hotel.”
Some local voluntary organizations affiliated to the group arrived on the spot to help them with food and drinks. They however chose to have their breakfast at the hotel yesterday morning. And the group left later in the afternoon.
Moideen Hamza, another Calicut bound pilgrim, said his group of 200 pilgrims also had to wait for flights for more than a day. “We, however, were informed to go to the Haj Terminal only when asked to. So we waited until we got a call from our mutawwif and left for the Haj Terminal,” Hamza said speaking on his mobile phone.
An A-I executive said its extra flights had been delayed due to long waits for their aircraft at the Haj Terminal caused by congestion. Secondly, two aircraft developed problems and they had to summon the help of engineers from Bombay to rectify the faults and also seek the help of Saudi Arabian Airlines. “The engineers carried out the necessary repair and the aircraft left with pilgrims of private tour operators,” he said.
He added that confusion is also caused by mutawwifs who are not supposed to bring the pilgrims to the Haj Terminal until their flights were confirmed. “There seems to be a communication gap and that is additionally putting the pilgrims into trouble.”
Inquiries show that only 200 passengers remain still stranded and have been accommodated in different hotels.
“All our flights are now streamlined and we hope to restore normality within a short time,” another A-I executive said.
