I CONFESS that I've again broken my promise not to write about the pathetic state of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah (KAIA). You may consider me to be a difficult child who keeps going back on his word. But then, so what if I go back on my word? Am I the only one in this country to do so? His Excellency the President of the Civil Aviation Authority – himself – confirmed in documented speeches that the new airport terminal would be ready and inaugurated in 2010, and then, recently, told us that the project was only now going to be handed over to the contracted company to start working on it. So why should I be the only one held responsible for going back on my word? The reason why I have gone back on my word this time is a column that I have read written by the Egyptian columnist Ahmad Badawi, published in Akhbar Al-Arab Newspaper and entitled: “Arabkhanat Jeddah – Formerly known as ‘Jeddah International Airport'”. This column confirms what I have been saying all along which is that what is happening in this airport is hurting our nation's image abroad and is undermining the tremendous efforts that this country and its people are making to serve pilgrims. Badawi said that he had completed his Umrah to Makkah and was feeling at peace but, he added, “Good things don't last.” He said he was astonished by what he saw: Passengers of the Saudia Cairo flight were sleeping on the Haj terminal floor, waiting to board, in what he described as “uncivilized and inhuman conditions”. Badawi further expresses his amazement that “there was such a shortage of baggage carts that passengers were forced to move their bags in airport garbage containers”! I cannot claim here that this Egyptian columnist is part of a Zionist conspiracy to sully the reputation of Jeddah Airport, because I have photographs of the airport documenting this ‘black comedy' which I've written about in two columns: “Recycling the garbage container” and “We found the airport trash”. The Egyptian writer goes on to describe in detail the suffering of Saudia passengers, and the cancellation of their bookings at the last minute. He concluded his column by thanking God that he had arrived safely in Egypt and advised readers not to travel with Saudia! Among the readers' comments on the Egyptian newspaper's website where this column was posted, one sent by someone in Qasim stood out. This reader said that he preferred to travel by car from Jeddah to Qasim in order to avoid the hassle and agony at Jeddah Airport. Another reader from Algeria wrote that her grandmother experienced the same thing when she was returning from the Holy Land and that she was surprised that this could happen in Saudi Arabia! It would seem that the only thing which Egyptians and Algerians can agree on, following the football war they had a while back, is that conditions at the KAIA airport are really bad. All thanks must be given to the Civil Aviation Authority for its efforts to encourage and maintain harmony among Arabs!
