Thousands of Egyptian pilgrims fly to Saudi Arabia after breakthrough reached

CAIRO – 21 April 2017: Egyptian and Saudi officials met Thursday in Cairo to put an end to a three-day crisis of suspended Saudi flights to the Kingdom, which resulted in thousands of stranded pilgrims, according to a statement by the Tourism Ministry.

Egyptian Minister of Tourism Yehya Rashed met with the Chairman of Saudi Airliner Saleh el-Gasser, where the latter promised to solve the pilgrims’ crisis within hours.

Five Saudi airlines planes departed Cairo Airport Friday morning, carrying 2,100 pilgrims.

On the other hand, the state-owned EgyptAir said it will fly around 18 flights on Friday, 10 of which are directed to Jeddah and eight flights to Madina El-Monawara, carrying 3,050 pilgrims, according to EgyptAir Airlines chief executive, Captain Sherif Ezzat.

Earlier Thursday, dozens of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims filed reports against Saudi airlines and tourism companies for suspending their flights for more than three days at Cairo International Airport.

A 61-year-old pilgrim, who was waiting for his flight at the airport, reportedly dropped dead, as he suffered a severe drop in his blood circulation.
In response, officials of the airport held a meeting to end the issue before it is aggravated.