More than 1,300 flights have so far left Jeddah's airport to transport pilgrims to their home countries after their holy journey. Khaled Al-Khaibari, head of the Public Relations Management of the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) said this represents 170 daily flights through King Abdulaziz International Airport since Nov. 30. He said the authorities have experienced no problems despite the heavy rains and floods over the past weeks. Al-Khaibari said that the smooth operation was possible because the airport now has an additional 14th terminal equipped with the latest technology. “The operational capacity of the airport is 3,500 pilgrims per hour,” he said. According to Al-Khaibari, pilgrims will continue to leave the Kingdom until Jan. 12. He said the operational plan was to ensure the complete comfort and safety of pilgrims from the time they arrive to their date of departure. Al-Khaibari said that the capacity increase includes the building of 10 gates for passengers, 14 bridges to link various parts of the airport, 136 counters for customs and 140 counters for passport control.
