RIYADH — King Khalid International Airport of Riyadh handled the unprecedented rush of passengers bound for their home destinations with the beginning of the annual summer vacation.

The airport authorities have said that flow of traffic is smooth now, as it had served a record number of more than 87,000 incoming and outgoing passengers during the 24 hours on Friday and around 90,000 passengers on Saturday.

The huge rush of travelers caused some problems that lasted for a few hours but the authorities have managed well and there was no incident of canceling any of the flights, the authorities said.

The huge outflow of passengers coincided with the beginning of the annual vacation of schools. Most of the passengers are families, including women and children, who had to postpone their travel for the last two years due to the imposition of travel restrictions following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Several social media activists and passengers circulated pictures and clips of the crowding of passengers at the passenger lounges and check-in-counters at the lone airport in the capital city, which is home to about seven million people.

The overcrowding at the airport lasted for a couple of hours and the movement of passengers returned to normal. According to the airport officials, things returned to normalcy and the heavy rush at the international terminal ended within a couple of hours.

The overcrowding of passengers created some issues at King Fahd International Airport of Dammam also but to a lesser degree while compared to the Riyadh airport.

The disruption of baggage conveyors, and passengers’ rush to complete their travel procedures before the departure of the planes created some feelings of discontent and annoyance among the passengers, according to reports.

© Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).