A record 1,500 return flights have been scheduled for pilgrims from Madina. Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz Airport authorities drew up the plan to cope with the 400,000 pilgrims expected to leave the city by air. Airport Director Engineer Abdul Fattah Bin Muhammad Ata said that the first groups of pilgrims are expected in Madina Wednesday. Around 1.2 million visitors are expected to arrive in Madina after Haj, which is slightly up on last year's figures. Some 25,000 government employees will be involved in receiving the bus convoys of pilgrims from the holy sites. Authorities say that they are inspecting 870 licensed residential buildings and food shops to ensure that they are suitable for accommodating pilgrims and that they comply with construction regulations. Meanwhile, the security and services sectors have beefed up their presence at key locations to ease the flow of pilgrims and guide them to their accommodations. Officers and security guards are on standby at Madina's gateway to receive pilgrims buses. Traffic Department teams and security patrols have secured all major roads and are preventing illegal parking on entrances to the Central Area and pilgrims residences. Authorities said the scale of this year's operation was unprecedented with 2,730 buses departing to the holy sites in just 26 hours. __
