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Taif airport will ease pilgrim load at KAIA

April 10, 2013

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Taif , Apr 10: Taif airport may soon become a key disembarkation point for pilgrims coming in from the neighboring states.

The airport has seen a 250 percent jump in air traffic in 2012, according to Khalid Al-Khaibary, spokesperson and general manager of public relations at General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA).

The idea behind developing Taif as a major hub for international Haj and Umrah traffic is to ease the burden at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAIA) during the peak seasons.

Taif airport accommodates Air Arabia, Saudia, nasair, Al-Masria, flydubai, Gulf Air, Nesma Airlines, Nile Air and Turkish Airlines. These airlines provide flights to Sharjah, Cairo, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Abha, Dammam, Riyadh and Istanbul.

Last June, Air Arabia began operating 66 flights a week from Taif to Sharjah.

Analysts are still speculating how much pilgrim traffic will pass through Taif this year, but aviation authorities are ready for the influx.

Taif airport opened in 1955 as a small domestic facility and remained under the radar until the GACA upgraded it to a regional hub.

GACA authorized a SR 8.8-million renovation of the passenger terminal and lounge, expanding it from 4,400 square meters to 5,600 square meters. The expansion allows the terminal to accommodate up to 600 passengers per hour. Passengers will pass through new customs and passport control areas. Annual passenger traffic will increase from 350,000 to 750,000, according to GACA.

The airport also has two runways with a capacity of 12,254 feet each. Although its capacity has expanded, aviation authorities have yet to establish air routes between Taif and Jeddah. It is also not connected to Madinah.

Al-Khaibary told Arab News that Taif’s airport is becoming the fastest developing airport among the Kingdom’s 23 domestic airports. He said 682,000 passengers used Taif airport in 2012 — 241,000 international and 441,000 domestic.

He noted that Taif received 1,900 international flights and 3,744 domestic flights in 2012. Al-Khaibary also said that since 2011, Taif airport has recorded significant growth in passenger traffic.

“In 2010, there was a total of 4,687 flights, then in 2011, the figure went up to 5,393 and reached 5,644 in 2012,” Al-Khaibary said.

Al-Khaibary also said that 779 international flights operated from Taif for first time in 2011 and carried 96,491 passengers. For 2012, that number skyrocketed 250 percent, with 241,000 international passengers.

“Taif airport has a 7-percent share in the total number of domestic passengers in the Kingdom,” Al-Khaibary said. “National and foreign airlines are operating 41 weekly flights to Egypt, Turkey, UAE and Kuwait.

Al-Khaibary added that GACA is negotiating with the Ministry of Haj to operate Haj charter flights to Taif.

GACA officials say they are encouraging airlines to operate more flights from Taif to other GCC countries to make it a true international hub.

Yet equally important are the efforts underway to establish specific routes from Taif to Makkah once pilgrims land at the airport. One route will lead to Makkah from Taif, Al-Shimaisi and Laith. Private cars and taxis will drop off pilgrims at the parking lot of Al-Shimaisi checkpoint, then pilgrims will take public transportation to the Grand Mosque.

Another route will take pilgrims from Al-Sail valley area in Taif via private car or taxi to Al-Sharaie residential district in Makkah. Pilgrims will then use public transportation to go to the Haram.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Dubai, Apr 28: Riyadh municipality has announced 13 requirements to restore commercial activity in malls starting Wednesday (April 29), in accordance with the government’s coronavirus precautionary measures.

The requirements include: the continued closure of all entertainment and playing areas inside malls, and not allowing the entry of children under the age of 15.

The municipality requires all malls to ensure the availability of medical examination and sterilization teams to measure the temperature of all individuals entering the mall at all entrances throughout opening hours, prevent any person with a temperature exceeding 38 degrees Celsius from entering, remove all chairs and benches in the corridors, and provide masks and gloves for visitors at the entrances.

All malls are to have security personnel stationed at all entrances to ensure that visitors are wearing masks.

The municipality also requires all malls to sterilize the entire facility every 24 hours, allocate rooms for medical isolation when there is any suspicion of an individual being infected with COVID-19, ensure the presence of a sufficient number of security personnel, and carry out regular rounds to verify full compliance, and suspend the valet service.

It also called for malls to put up explanatory signs of the guidelines to ensure that everyone understands the precautionary measures.

Malls should rely on the use of escalators and stairs for movement between floors, and in the event they are not available, only two people are allowed to ride the elevator at a time.

Revised curfew

Saudi Arabia had revised on April 21 its coronavirus curfew timings for the holy month of Ramadan, allowing residents in all areas and cities not currently under a 24-horu lockdown to go out between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

However, areas under a complete lockdown will only be allowed to go out for essential needs, such as grocery shopping or medical visits, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Residents in these areas must stay within their neighborhoods

A 24-hour lockdown was previously imposed on the cities of Riyadh, Tabuk, Dammam, Dhahran, and Hofuf and throughout the governorates of Jeddah, Taif, Qatif, and Khobar.

The government had imposed a full lockdown on the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah as well. Other cities and governorates had a curfew implemented from 3 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

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News Network
June 17,2020

Abu Dhabi, Jun 17: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has allowed students still enrolled in universities overseas to obtain exceptions to attendance policies at their respective academic institutions in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the ministry said that the move stems from its keenness to ensure the continuity of education for those students and to maintain effective channels of communication with them.

Students' applications for exceptions to academic attendance in universities due to Covid-19 should be submitted following the end of the academic year, and not after the academic semester, via the following email: [email protected].

In their email, students have to explain the reasons for the required exceptions and should include an official message from the university concerned.

Scholarship approval issued by the Ministry of Education for studying abroad should also be attached.

The student's score reports for the academic years spent in the host countries and the duration of each academic year should also be attached, in addition to an entry and exit report of the student from the Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Mount Arafat, July 30: Muslim pilgrims converged Thursday on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat for the climax of this year's hajj, the smallest in modern times and a sharp contrast to the massive crowds of previous years.

A tight security cordon has been erected all around the foot of the rocky hill outside Mecca, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy.

Pilgrims, donning masks and observing social distancing, were brought in buses from neighbouring Mina, state television showed, as Saudi authorities impose measures to prevent a coronavirus outbreak.

They were subject to temperature checks and attended a sermon -- which state media said was translated into 10 languages -- before they set off on the climb to the summit for hours of Koran recitals and prayers to atone for their sins.

The scene was strikingly different to last year's ritual when a sea of pilgrims ascended Mount Arafat, marshalled by tens of thousands of stewards in a bid to prevent any crushes.

After sunset prayers, pilgrims will make their way down Mount Arafat to Muzdalifah, another holy site where they will sleep under the stars to prepare for the final stage of hajj, the symbolic "stoning of the devil".

It takes place on Friday and also marks the beginning of Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice.

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam and a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime, is usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings.

But only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in this year's ritual, compared with 2019's gathering of some 2.5 million from around the world.

"You are not our guests but those of God, the custodian of the two holy mosques (Saudi Arabia's King Salman) and the nation," Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten said in a video released by the media ministry on Wednesday.

Security cordon

A security cordon has been thrown around the holy sites to prevent any security breaches, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Riyadh faced strong criticism in 2015 when some 2,300 worshippers were killed in the deadliest stampede in the gathering's history.

But this year, those risks are greatly reduced by the much smaller crowd.

The pilgrims have all been tested for the virus, and foreign journalists were barred from this year's hajj, usually a huge global media event.

As part of the rites completed over five days in the holy city of Mecca and its surroundings, the pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat after spending the night in Mina.

A district of Mecca, Mina sits in a narrow valley surrounded by rocky mountains, and is transformed each year into a vast encampment for pilgrims.

They began the hajj on Wednesday with their first "tawaf", the circumambulation of the Kaaba, a large structure in Mecca’s Grand Mosque towards which Muslims around the world pray.

The Kaaba is draped in a black cloth embroidered in gold with Koranic verses and known as the kiswa, which is changed each year during the pilgrimage.

Pilgrims were brought inside the mosque in small batches, walking along paths marked on the floor, in sharp contrast to the normal sea of humanity that swirls around the Kaaba during hajj.

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