All four conveyor belts broke down in the morning rush hours resulting in the piling up of baggage meant for check-in, which further added to the misery of passengers bound for various international destinations for hours together.
The breakdown of the conveyor system made some of the flights to leave without passenger luggage, according to airline sources. One of them was Cathay Pacific.
“We don’t know when will our baggage reach us at our destination,” said a passenger with disappointment writ large on his face. “After waiting for so many hours, we now have to travel without our baggage.”
Three of the four conveyor belts did not function on Monday, which created chaotic scenes among the passengers eager to travel to their destinations for the Eid break. The belts were set right on Tuesday, but gave way again on Thursday. The airport officials continued to blame the airlines for allowing passengers to check in their baggage far beyond the allotted maximum weight limit.
“International Air Transport Association (IATA) rule clearly specifies that each passenger should not carry more than 20 kg baggage, but then airlines have been allowing up to 45 kg per passenger to beat the competition,” an airport source said. “So how can the conveyor belts take the baggage on this unprecedented scale?”
From Gate No. 3 to the lounge and again from the lounge to the check-in counters confusion ruled. There was no semblance of order, no queues and no assistance from any quarter. Some of the passengers complained that they had to spend at least 45 minutes for scanning their hand luggage at the security after immigration.
Several attempts to contact airport officials for a response on Thursday were unsuccessful. The day saw the deployment of security officials who stood at the gate and allowed passengers who had reconfirmed their bookings. A number of people who had come to see off their families or friends were turned back. Again, the lounge continued to present a scene of utter confusion with passengers and their trolleys blocking every available space.
Adding to the confusion among passengers was the switching of some of the flights heading for certain Arab countries and also some other destinations to the Haj Terminal. They included Emirates, Bahrain Air, Gulf Air, EgyptAir and PIA’s extra flights. According to passengers, there was no proper announcement about the flights switched to the Haj Terminal.
“Airlines have been taking on-the-spot decisions and telling their passengers to quickly move to the Haj Terminal,” a Bahrain Air passenger said.
As a result, the passengers had to make their own arrangements to change terminal. Passengers complained that taxis charged exorbitant fares for a short distance from the North Terminal to the Haj Terminal. “I had to pay SR100 to reach the Haj Terminal from the North Terminal by taxi, that too after hard bargaining,” said a Cairo-bound passenger who identified himself only as Mohamed.
At the Haj Terminal, they were confronted with new problems. According to some passengers, there were no trolleys and very few loaders to assist them. Even SAPTCO buses were charging SR20 per passenger between the airport’s North to South terminals.
The malfunctioning of conveyor belts has been creating overcrowding at both the airport gate and also its lounge in the past four days. Three of the four belts were either broken or did not function on Monday, which caused chaotic scenes among the passengers eager to travel home for the Eid break. Umrah pilgrims have also been adding to the rush with their scheduled airline bookings for returning home for Eid. As things were becoming unmanageable, some outgoing flights were switched to the Haj Terminal for their departures, according to airline sources.
According to sources, the airport’s Haj Terminal was made operational and flights started departing from there from Thursday morning. In the past few days of rush at the North Terminal, some of the passengers who had checked in there were being asked to board their planes from the Haj Terminal. A journalist bound for Karachi by PIA said the airline’s extra flight on which he was booked left after a 13-hour delay late on Wednesday night.
Mohammed Motassem of Dubai said he was told to move to the Haj Terminal from North Terminal without adequate notice. “You better rush there or else you will miss the flight,” he was told by an airline official.
EgyptAir, Gulf Air, Emirates and PIA’s extra flights, which departed from Haj Terminal on Thursday after some hours of delay, are expected to follow the same schedule on Friday. Their immigration processing and check-in formalities are done from the Haj Terminal. “Airlines should have taken the responsibility of transporting their passengers to Haj Terminal from North Terminal. In the absence of organized transport and hotel arrangements, we passengers are in a fix,” Muhammad Sharif, a Gulf Air passenger heading for Lahore, said.
Attempts to get an official comment on the situation failed until late Thursday night.
