YANBU — The General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) is investigating a video that showed a Saudi family made to sit on the floors at Yanbu International Airport while waiting for a flight that was delayed for nine hours. a GACA launched the investigation after the video went viral on social media websites, the Makkah daily reported. The video showed a girl capturing her family on camera while they were sitting on the floor because the airport staff would not allow them into the waiting lounge though there were many empty seats. The airport staff in the video told her they could not let them sit in the empty lounge as it was reserved for passengers of an international flight that would arrive in a few hours. GACA chief Sulaiman Al-Hamdan said he ordered the authority to look into the incident "where Saudi passengers were humiliated". “The video was really shocking. We apologize to the family about the incident. We do not undermine the interests of Saudi passengers and do not give priority to international passengers. All passengers are treated and valued equally at our airports,” said Al-Hamdan. Deputy head of GACA Tariq Al-Abduljabbar said any delay or shortcoming of service is not acceptable and should be adequately compensated. “In the case of delay, the authority has clear instructions on the procedures to be followed and the compensations paid. The authority is looking into why these instructions were not followed,” said Al-Abduljabbar. He said the authority would speak to the managers at the airport and hold them responsible for such incidents in the future. l-Abduljabbar said according to the authority's charter, the passengers in the video should have been given meals and accommodation at a hotel as the delay was for a total of nine hours.
