The Egyptian pilgrimage season Hajj has started and Egyptian airports are busy flying pilgrims to the holy lands in Saudi Arabis's Mecca and Jeddah. Amirah Ibrahim reports Hundreds of Egyptian and African pilgrims flooded into Cairo International airport on Monday which marked the beginning of pilgrims' flights from Cairo. Dressed in Hajj white gowns and Ihram, the pilgrims were received at the new Hajj seasonal terminal building to process their travel papers. For years, Cairo International used to construct a temporary huge tent outside the TB1 allocated for Hajj passengers. As such, the airport sought to reduce pressure of pilgrims' traffic during the annual season. "But that was so unhuman," commented Hassan Rashed, chairman of the Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation. "Egyptian pilgrims are accompanied to the airport by a dozen family members and relatives, who seek to share the goodbye moments with their beloved ones at airports. We cannot stop them, but this also should not trouble the flow of work. Through this new seasonal TB, all pilgrimage activities are conducted apart from the normal activities of the airport," Rashed added. The first Hajj flight took off on Monday operated by the national carrier EgyptAir. Five more flights took off the same day; four flights from Luxor airport and two from Cairo International. Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmad El-Kattan surprised both airport officials and pilgrims at the seasonal terminal building to express good luck wishes to Egyptian pilgrims. The attitude is the first of its kind. None of the previous Saudi diplomats adopted such an attitude before. "I am here to assure our brothers and sisters who are heading to perform Hajj that they will be cared for by their Saudi brothers everywhere they go," Al-Kattan told the media at airport. "We have formed an emergency committee to handle any problem that Egyptian pilgrims may face, but we wish them a peaceful stay and satisfying Hajj," he added. Al-Kattan actually adopted such a move to soften the tense relationship following the troubled Omrah season two months ago in which thousands of Egyptian pilgrims suffered at Saudi airports on return trips. The major bulk of the Egyptian pilgrims rushed into Cairo International on Tuesday as the official trips organised by the Solidarity Ministry were launched from the airport. Solidarity Minister Guwda Abdel Khaliq paid a visit to the airport to check pilgrims travelling under the supervision of his ministry. Egyptian pilgrims travel mainly through official trips organised by the Interior Ministry, which takes the major bulk of pilgrims. Others travel through the Solidarity Ministry, civil society associations and travel agencies. The national carrier, which is set to transfer 75,000 pilgrims, has said it would operate wide body aircraft B777-200 and A340-200 to transfer pilgrims. The airline announced early this month that 320 flights were scheduled for the Hajj season; 215 flights to Jeddah and 105 to Madinah. "We are ready here in all Egyptian airports and there in Mecca and Jeddah to help our passengers fly easily and peacefully to perform their Hajj in absolute comfort," asserted Hussein Massoud, chairman of EgyptAir. "Our teams are working in coordination with Saudi authorities to solve any problem from the beginning. Our Omrah season was a complete success and our pilgrims did not face any trouble. We are working to achieve a successful Hajj season, just as we did for Omrah," Massoud added.
