They also outlined steps to leave no room for overcrowding at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah.
They made this vow during a meeting on Thursday chaired by Abdul Aziz bin Rahaim Al-Hazmi, deputy director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines Company. Representatives of departments concerned also attended the meeting that discussed all matters pertaining to transport of pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia.
“This is a new addition to the combined efforts being made to provide consummate services to pilgrims from the moment of their arrival in the Kingdom until their departure,” Al-Hazmi said.
The meeting also discussed other services being extended to pilgrims including issuance of boarding passes at the country of origin and providing necessary equipment and manpower to operate flights.
Al-Hazmi said Saudia has completed all arrangements for the Haj season through the provision of all human and material potential in all stations and preparation of Haj flight schedules in addition to other operational requirements within its annual Haj plan.
Informed sources told Arab News that the representatives of the departments concerned in the government have called for bringing staff from countries of origin to work at the departure lounge in the Kingdom to facilitate the movement of their pilgrims, enlightening them about the Haj formalities, informing them about their departure time and making sure they were vaccinated against epidemics.
Last week the Haj Ministry announced that it would implement a three-pronged strategy to prevent overcrowding of pilgrims at the KAIA in Jeddah. 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 set up a checkpoint to ensure pilgrims have confirmed bookings.
The new measures were put in place following the chaos and confusion created by thousands of Egyptian and Algerian pilgrims at the KAIA during Ramadan. As a result, many flights were either canceled or delayed. Eissa Al-Rawass, deputy minister for Umrah affairs, had 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 the airport’s terminals, adding that officials would check documents of pilgrims as well as the times 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.
