JEDDAH, 11 August 2006 — Hundreds of passengers bound for London from Saudi Arabia were in a state of confusion with the UK canceling many flights in the wake of the unfolding of a terror plot. But airlines operating from the Kingdom said there was little or no disruption of flights.
Airlines flying direct to London include Saudi Arabian Airlines and bmi. British Airways is an offline carrier in the Kingdom and operates from Bahrain. All of their flights for the day had headed for London as per schedule.
Enquiries with a cross-section of airlines in the region operating flights to the UK showed that there were no cancellations of bookings. A bmi spokesman, whose airline operates three flights each from Riyadh and Jeddah to London, told Arab News that all their flights took off on time. The airline reported 100-percent seat occupancy from Jeddah and 80 percent from Riyadh.
Passengers connecting through London for trans-Atlantic flights to North America however have been informed that no carry-on baggage would be allowed under any circumstances at their Heathrow connection.
Speaking to Arab News on phone, Nasser Al-Tayyar, chairman of the Al-Tayyar Group, said flights on some flight to the US and Canada connecting through the UK had to be rescheduled in view of the security concerns.
“Yes, there have been lots of delays as a result of which passengers had to suffer. Those affected were Saudi students going to the UK for attending short-term courses or for treatment,” said Al-Tayyar.
An official from Emirates Airlines, which runs 11 flights to London via Dubai, said some flights had to be rescheduled in view of the security concerns.
Travel agencies in Jeddah said that there was as yet no official advise from international carriers about flight cancellations. “Passengers seem to be in a state of panic. This is evident from the number of inquiries we’ve been receiving from them. All of them wanted to know whether the London-bound flights were taking off or not,” a travel agent said.
A source at Saudi Airlines said the carrier’s noon flight to London was delayed for two hours but otherwise all flights to and from London were on schedule. “Everything is normal on our side but it all depends on directions from the British authorities,” said the source at the airline who didn’t want to be named.
A travel agent said his computer system continued to show the flight due to leave Jeddah at 1:55 a.m. on Friday as on schedule.
A London-bound passenger, John Brooks, 47, substantiated this. “When I rang up Saudia for a seat for London, its reservation staff told me that seats were available for the Friday morning flight,” he told Arab News.
Some other travel agencies reported that the booking of seats for London by various international carriers continued as normal throughout the day.
“We’ve had no official circular from the carriers. Whatever we’ve come to know about London suspending flights is only from the electronic media,” an Attar executive said.
Airlines and travel agencies, however, received innumerable calls from passengers heading to London for holiday or business.
“Some of them made changes at the last minute to avoid London and either changed the airlines or destinations,” he added.
Inquiries with airline offices showed that they too had no specific advice about the developments in London and what they should do. “We’re still awaiting advise from our corporate offices,” a Lufthansa-Swiss source said.
KLM, Air France, Emirates, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways and some of the African airlines said they too had received a number of calls from their passengers about the developments in London. Travel agencies too had a busy time dealing with such inquiries.
Meanwhile, residents expressed their concern for loved ones and the image of Muslims in light of the recent threat.
Mona Ahmed, a young mother of three whose husband traveled to London two days ago on a business trip, was alarmed and feared further terrorist incidents.
Fatima Mehdar, an elderly woman who used to enjoy spending the summer in London with many other Saudi friends who still have residences there, has not been there for a few years due to old age but also sensing that London is not as welcoming of Arabs as before.
“My friends there say that in general they don’t feel much difference but occasionally something is said or done that hints at distrust of Arabs,” she said.
With this latest suspected terrorist threat by Muslims, she fears that it would only add to the tension. “I don’t know what these misguided Muslims are thinking by such acts that have nothing to do with Islam.
With all that is happening in Lebanon and Palestine, the last thing the Muslims need is more tension. God help us all and guide us to what is right and bring us peace,” prayed Fatima, echoing Muslims’ hopes everywhere.
