I am writing with regard to the article "What impression of the Kingdom do visitors get at Jeddah airport?" (Oct. 14). Jeddah airport has the worst service ever! I travelled with my husband “a non-Saudi” during the Haj break and the airport was a disaster. There was no respect for travelers and a fight broke out and they wouldn’t even let my husband pass through the “GCC queue” and asked me to go to the women’s section. Seriously, Jeddah airport must be the worst worldwide!
SA, Online response
I think that things that can be changed now at Jeddah airport and should be fixed immediately. It used to drive me crazy seeing how when the plane had barely touched the runway upon arriving in Jeddah, people are already getting up trying to get their bags from the overhead compartments and lining up at the doorway to be the first to get out. They literally run to squeeze themselves into the first bus. Then after the bus brings passengers to the terminal, everyone rushes out to ensure they are first in line at immigration. I don't blame them now. I've become one of these people who is also rushing as soon as the plane touches the tarmac, because as we know, Jeddah airport is not organized. Out of 10 immigration lines, only three are staffed, and then baggage arrivals take a very, very long time. It gives the impression that people working there either are lazy, hate their job or just don’t care, and that the airport is either understaffed or really disorganized.
Joanne Barley, Online response
For managing the unruly airport taxi services, I have the following suggestion that might work to solve the problem. The authorities should set up a Help Desk inside the terminal building consisting of several computer-aided counters (of course, appropriately manned) to cater for the taxi service for arriving passengers. Taxis should be arranged in a pool waiting outside with each one having a waiting number already connected to the Help Desk computers. Arriving passengers report to the Help Desk, pay the exact fares as listed by the authority for their destination and take two receipt copies. The passenger comes out of the airport terminal building and gets into the taxi assigned to him. He/she hands over to the driver a copy of the money receipt and the taxi takes the passenger to the destination as paid for. Any deviation or any fraud attempt will be reported to the Traffic Police who in turn will take all necessary legal action to protect the passenger's interest. Hopefully, this would provide hassle-free airport taxi service, if implemented meticulously.
Rafiqul Islam, Online response
