Thirteen airlines, including the PIA, operating from the Jeddah Haj Terminal on post-haj departures of pilgrims to various countries are facing six to eight hours of flight delays due to inherent infrastructure constraints at the Jeddah Haj Terminal, which is beyond PIA’s control, a spokesman for the national carrier said in a press statement on Tuesday. According to a detailed performance report, airlines from Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries have faced flight delays ranging from two to 11 hours. The PIA spokesman said for passengers check-in and baggage acceptance, immigration and security of 500 passengers at a time requires at least six to eight hours. Another cause of delays is the completion of immigration formalities and security checks. There are about 14 security checks at the terminal that takes almost 10 to 15 minutes per passenger to clear the immigration and security. Around 80,000 to 100,000 passengers have to clear the immigration and security process, which results in congestion resulting in flight delays.
