Airport busy as pilgrims begin return journey

Saudi Arabian Airlines started on Thursday transporting pilgrims back to their home countries. The airline’s operations involve transporting pilgrims domestically, to the GCC countries and to other countries.
The first domestic flight for pilgrims departed from Jeddah to Hofuf at 8 a.m. with 350 pilgrims on board; other flights will be leaving for Riyadh, Dammam, Tabuk, Qassim and Hofuf until 3 a.m. on Friday. 
Flights for pilgrims leaving for GCC countries began Thursday, starting with flight SV5500 to Kuwait, carrying 450 pilgrims. Flights to other Gulf cities will continue until Friday 11 p.m. 
The flights from King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah will peak on Saturday, when there are 185 departing scheduled and Haj flights, including 50 flights from the Haj terminal.
Daily flights to international destinations around the world will continue, with 306,456 pilgrims expected to be transported on 1,275 flights from King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, and 80,000 pilgrims on 458 flights from Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah.
Four departure halls have been prepared and are ready to operate, starting with Thursday and until the 15th of Muharram, to support the departure of pilgrims at the Jeddah airport.

Source: Arab News