Why were hundreds of EgyptAir passengers returning from the hajj pilgrimage left stranded for three days at a Saudi Arabian airport? Amira Ibrahim investigates As the national carrier continued to bring Egyptian pilgrims home, aviation authorities were busy trying to find out why hundreds of passengers were stranded at a Saudi Arabian airport for three days. Khaled Salaheddin, 40, waited 34 hours at Jeddah airport for his flight home. Khaled and his father got to the airport 12 hours before their flight. "To our surprise," he said, "we only managed to get to the departure hall after six hours of pushing and shouting; only then did we find out that our flight was delayed." Khaled said he was "stunned" by the sight of "hundreds of passengers sleeping on the floors of Jeddah's King Abdul-Aziz Airport, surrounded by a mountain of bags." Complaints from families waiting for their loved ones at Cairo Airport also complicated the situation. Previous organisational fiascos on the national carrier's part had already made the public wary. Rumours began spreading that EgyptAir had not sent enough planes to bring the pilgrims home. When passengers did begin arriving, their luggage was often not on the same plane, sparking yet more mayhem at Cairo Airport. Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq admitted to parliament that the national carrier had "achieved a big zero" when it came to efficiently brining Egyptian pilgrims home from the hajj. Shafiq -- who boasted that getting the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia had been smooth sailing -- said the return logjam was the result of "a lack of coordination with Saudi Arabia". The reasons for that lapse are being investigated, he said. A top EgyptAir official, who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, said the problem boiled down to confusion over when the hajj would end. When Saudi Arabia suddenly decided to shift the date of Eid El-Adha (feast of sacrifice), which marks the end of the pilgrimage, ahead by a day, pilgrims' itineraries were mixed up. Many pilgrims had to check out of their hotels a day earlier than planned. "Pilgrims of many nationalities, particularly those who could not afford to pay to stay an additional day, rushed to the airport in the hope of catching any flight home," he said. Things then went from bad to worse, as the Jeddah Airport's pilgrims' departure area was ill prepared for the resulting crowds. With only one faltering x-ray machine, the EgyptAir source said, "it was impossible to examine the luggage of the 9,400 passengers due to depart over the first two days." Adding to the chaos, an additional 10,000 pilgrims were allowed into the hall with their luggage, even though their flights were not scheduled for that day. "On the other hand, passengers who arrived at the right time for their flights were unable to get in, so there was hysterical shouting and screaming too," the source said. Egyptian aviation authorities dismissed a suggestion to conduct a manual examination of passengers' bags, preferring to maintain international safety regulations on the national carrier's flights. Saudi Arabian authorities did not respond to requests for another x-ray machine, the source said. All in all, 254 return flights for pilgrims on Boeing 777s and Airbus 600s were scheduled from 24 January to 12 February. With flights delayed for up to 72 hours, EgyptAir is expecting the final tally of losses from the debacle to be high. "We had to accommodate passengers in hotels at many domestic and international points, as their flights were delayed as a result of the delay in Jeddah. We also had to reschedule flights, and hire more planes to deal with that emergency case," the source said. Even worse was the damage done to the national carrier's image and reputation both domestically and abroad. An EgyptAir source said "the company was studying a number of possible suggestions to compensate its passengers and recover from the debacle."
