Qarni, a Saudi national from the Tabuk Region, who came to Jeddah earlier on board a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight accompanied by his seven-member family, was taken aback when a Saudia employee informed him that the return air-tickets he wanted refunded had already been used by him and his family members. Al-Qarni denied this and said that he and his family returned to Tabuk by land and, according to him, they did not use the return tickets at all. Al-Qarni added, “This took place on 28/10/2008 and since that time, I have been following up my transaction, but to no avail. I blame a Saudia employee at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, whose initials are being withheld, for issuing boarding passes to people not holding air tickets.” Al-Qarni pointed out that he was with his family in the southern part of the Kingdom when the said employee issued return tickets to others on Aug. 27 last year for Saudia Flight No. 1549. Meanwhile, Abdul Qader Omar Al-Jarrah, Director of Saudia in Tabuk, Al-Wajh and Turaif, said that the Saudi national filed a complaint with the airlines last Oct. 28 demanding a refund for the value of seven tickets. On investigating the matter, it turned out that he was issued boarding passes for Saudia Flight No. 1549 flying from Jeddah to Tabuk on Aug. 27, but he changed his mind and decided not to travel just an hour before take-off. “Therefore, the tickets became the property of Saudia,” Al
