Trapped in Cairo International

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AS THE SUMMER season is winding down, hundreds of tourists scrambled to return home for the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan. But the oversight of booking return tickets resulted in many of them spending the first days of the holy month away from their families.

"The problem resulted from a lax attitude by passengers who prefer not to confirm return dates and purchase 'open' tickets," explained Mohsen Khalil, director-general of EgyptAir stations. He said that Arab passengers, particularly from Gulf countries, plan their vacations beginning in Cairo and play it by ear from there. "When it's time to go home, they begin to chase down airlines, regardless of fleet availability," Khalil continued. "This is the case even with their national carriers."

Thousands of Saudi Arabian holidaymakers, for example, failed to book return flights either on EgyptAir or Saudi Airlines, and headed to their embassies and consultants asking the Saudi government to help them go home. Many of them ended up following the trail of Egyptian workers who usually travel to the Nuweiba port in Sinai, then to Jordan and fly from Amman to Gulf cities.

Khalil added that though EgyptAir and Saudi Airlines have an open skies agreement, there are still limitations as to the number of flights operated by each carrier to either country. "Here, we prioritise waiting list passengers, and have more than 25 flights to Saudi airports daily during summer," Khalil explained. "Every day, there are dozens of passengers crowding outside the airport gates claiming to have valid tickets in the hope of pressuring our staff. They continue to come every day with their families on the off chance they will find seats." The airline's policy, Khalil continued, is to give priority to children who are accompanying their parents, the sick and those who may exceed their visa limit if they stay.

For their part, Cairo International Airport administrators refused to allow more Saudi flights, saying that the airport cannot at present handle a large increase in flights.