By Abdulaziz Ghazzawi

Okaz / Saudi Gazette

MADINAH — More than 5,000 staff at Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz International Airport here have all geared up to serve the Guests of God processing their passports for departure, according to its director Majed Abu Dawood.

He said the first return Haj flight took off from the airport on Wednesday.

The director said the airport has completed all preparations to see the pilgrims off after they had completed their pilgrimage and paid homage to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Sufyan Abdul Salam, director of the airports' operating company. said about 676,000 pilgrims have arrived for the Haj via the airport with an increase of about 23 percent over their number last year.

He said the pilgrims came onboard 3,156 flights with an increase of 25 percent over the number of the flights last year. He expected the return Haj flights to go up by about 45 percent this year.

The Head of the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) Abdul Hakim Mohammed Al-Tamimi, on Tuesday, inspected the airport and asked all its staff to exert more efforts in completing the passport processing for the pilgrims and said the airport has spruced for the farewell of the pilgrims.

Meanwhile, about 6,000 medical cadres of doctors, nurses, technicians and administrators will be providing preventive and curative treatment to the pilgrims who have gathered in Madinah these days.

More than 700,000 pilgrims came to Madinah from Makkah and the holy sites after completing their Haj.

The General Directorate of Health Affairs in Madinah had transported 23 sick pilgrims onboard 31 ambulances to the holy sites to complete their pilgrimage.