CAIRO - Egypt's Minister of Civil Aviation Lotfi Moustafa Kamal announced that the crisis concerning 4,500 Egyptian omra pilgrims who have been stranded for three days in Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Airport is over, promising that their luggage will be flown to Cairo within 24 hours. Thousands of Egyptian pilgrims have been stranded in Jeddah's airport's small departures lounge, because their flights have been delayed by up to three days. "Some urgent measures have been taken to fly the Egyptian pilgrims home. The flights are no longer delayed, as Saudi Arabia Airlines is now replacing its planes with bigger ones," said Kamal. He added that a joint meeting would be held with the Saudi authorities to discuss the reasons for the delay and prevent its recurring. Kamal stressed that there were two main reasons for the flight delays. "Firstly, most of the pilgrims didn't check in on time for their flights. Secondly, they've got a lot of luggage," Kamal explained, adding that the flight are now only delayed by between one and five hours, which is much better than 24 hours. Cairo International Airport yesterday welcomed 38 flights – 17 Saudi Arabia Airlines flights and 21 EgyptAir flights – from Saudi Arabia, with 7,000 pilgrims on board. Egypt's Consul in Jeddah Maher el-Mahdy said that the crisis has been solved in co-operation with Saudi Arabia and 42 airplanes have been assigned to transport Egyptian pilgrims back to Cairo and Alexandria within 48 hours. El-Mahdy blamed the crisis on a 50 per cent increase in the number of Egyptian pilgrims this year. Some of the pilgrims reported inhumane treatment. The delays led to utter chaos, as angry pilgrims trashed some of the airport's facilities and attacked Saudi Airlines employees. "I have filed a complaint with Egypt's Tourism Police against the Saudi officials and Saudi Airlines for their maltreatment," said one pilgrim, whose complaint was followed by a dozen others, as an initial move to file a lawsuit. Some Facebook groups have been urging Egyptians to stage a protest today after Friday prayers outside the Saudi Embassy in Cairo over the claims of bad treatment. "Leaving pilgrims for three days in a small lounge without food or drink or even an explanation or apology is inhumane, regardless of the circumstances," wrote one Facebook activist. Saudi Ambassador in Cairo Ahmed Qatan said the main reason for the delays was the fact that the Saudi Airlines carousel in Jeddah's King Abdelaziz Airport had broken down. "The allegations that Egyptians got inhumane treatment in Saudi Arabia are baseless and a bid to drive a wedge between the Egyptian and Saudi peoples," added Qatan. He stressed that the Saudi Embassy in Cairo issued visas for 22,000 Egyptian omra pilgrims.
