Inherent infrastructure constraints at Jeddah Hajj terminal: PIA among 13 airlines facing eight hours of delays

Thirteen Airlines including PIA operating from Jeddah Hajj terminal on post Hajj departures of Hajjis to different countries are facing six to eight hours of flight delays due to inherent infrastructure constraints at Jeddah Hajj terminal which is beyond the control of PIA, PIA Spokesman said here on Tuesday.
According to a detailed performance report (Saudi Ground Services-SGS: Daily Hajj flight Handling Report 1410Hijri/ 2011, Jeddah) at the Jeddah Hajj terminal; airlines from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries have faced flight delays ranging from 2 to 11 hours.
Major Airlines operating just single flights have also experienced delays of 2 to 6 hours while PIA operates about 11 flights daily and the recorded average delay in departures is 5 hours, Indonesian Airline operates 8 flights per day and has experienced 5 hours delay, Turkish Airlines 4 flights have been facing average of 3 hours delay, Iranian Airlines 3 flights 9 to 11 hours delay.
PIA spokesman explained that Hujjaj on Hajj visa from Pakistan, on arrival at Jeddah Airport as per Saudi laws are taken over by the Moallims of their assigned Maktab who take custody of the travelling documents, personal belongings and their movement is restricted specifically according to the schedule laid out by the Moallims throughout the Hajj until departure from Jeddah.
He further said that for passengers Check-in and Baggage acceptance, immigration and security of 500 passengers at a time requires at least 6 to 8 hours. Repeatedly PIA has requested that returning Hujjaj may be brought to the airport for departure at least 8 hours before the departure time but they are being brought 2 to 3 hours before the flight since the passengers and their luggage arrive in separate vehicles, most of the time the luggage arrive very late and PIA flights cannot leave without completing the process.
Another cause of delays are fulfilling of immigration formalities and security checks. There are about 14 security checks at the terminal which takes almost 10 to 15 minutes per passenger to clear the immigration and security. Between 80,000 to 100,000 passengers have to clear the immigration and security process which results in congestion resulting in flight delays.-PR