Many pilgrims cannot read the signs at Saudi airports and they argue endlessly with PIA officials for hours.
KARACHI: This is with reference to your report of November 15 titled “Hajj pilgrim dies while waiting to board plane back home”. Many people will blame the airline but they should understand that many pilgrims cannot read the signs at Saudi airports posted in English and Arabic about maximum luggage allowances and they argue endlessly with PIA officials for hours. This, more often than not, is the reason for flight delays.
I say all this from personal experience. My wife and I went for Hajj in the year 2000. It was on March 14 that year and our return flight was on March 28. We were dropped at the airport six hours before the scheduled time of departure. The flight was delayed by 28 hours, which means that we had to wait at the airport for 34 hours. Compared to that, the delay this poor passenger, who died, had to face is nothing.
Zafar Salam
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2011.
