I received my bag from the baggage belt in the arrival hall of foreign airlines at King Khalid Airport, and I thought that the trouble of my travel journey was over, but I had to make my way with difficulty at the reception gate between a crowd of citizens and foreigners who offer delivery services, and in vain you ignore some of them or respond to others that there is A car is waiting for you. Urgency and repeated requests accompany you to the exit door of the hall, to be received by another crowd. At the sidewalk, your car does not find a place to stop to pick you up. The “kadadah” cars cause severe crowding until I had to walk far from the place where passengers are loaded so that my driver finds a space to stop!
This scene disturbed me as a citizen of Riyadh, so how about a foreign visitor who finds this chaos in his reception to create for him the first impression of the capital of the state, which today bears the title of the future of its ambitious vision?!
Two days ago, the Riyadh Airports Company celebrated the growth in the number of passengers from King Khalid Airport by 11%, the increase in the number of airlines providing services by 47%, the number of flights by 6%, and the increase in the growth rate of international and domestic destinations by 9%. Fare, delivery and organization of car movement at the gates of the airport halls?! Unfortunately, no, until this organization is completed, the image will remain distorted, no matter how much effort is made to improve the services and operation of the airport, and the matter applies to the rest of the airports, including King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah. The most modern and active Saudi airports to receive the country's guests!
Today, when the traveler arrives and leaves the plane, he finds a remarkable speed in completing passport procedures, receiving bags and passing through customs, but as soon as he leaves the terminal gate, time returns to the old situation of chaos gathering unauthorized people to provide delivery services, and this is unfortunate and may leave a negative first impression Indelible in the mind of the visitor and tourist!
Someone who is overwhelmed by his passion will say, “Do not cut off anyone’s livelihood.” So I say to him, the one whose livelihood is cut off is the taxi driver who paid the value of his car and the fees for its operating license as a taxi, Uber, and Careem, and waits for hours at the point designated for him, waiting for a passenger to be snatched by a grim reaper!
Khaled Suleiman
