RIYADH, 6 October — Saudi Arabian Airlines has finally resumed flights to and from America after a three-week suspension. Flight SV0034 was the first to make its way back to Saudi Arabia from JFK airport since the Sept. 11 attack on the United States. The 747 jet, which arrived at JFK airport on Thursday morning, carrying few passengers from Saudi Arabia, took off again from there with 179 passengers, although it had originally a waiting list of more than two hundred.
According to Saudia’s office in New York, most of the passengers originally scheduled to take this flight preferred to change their tickets so they could travel on other airlines. Those who did travel had to endure extremely stringent security.
For a start, only ticketed passengers were allowed inside the terminal, meaning the friends and family who came to say goodbye were refused permission to enter. Security guards refused to make any exception.
Om Abdullah, a passenger who was traveling with her sick son and three other children, was left in a panic inside the terminal after the guards refused to allow her husband to escort her. “I can’t speak English so I didn’t know what to do or where to go. Then some other passengers helped me to check in my luggage,” she said.
Most passengers showed up four hours prior to departure to prevent any delay that may be caused by the security procedures. While checking in, all passengers were asked to pay a surcharge of $5.
The usual gate for Saudia at Terminal 2 was relocated to Terminal 3. The latter was sealed with partitions. Passengers had to stand in two different queues. Their passports and boarding cards were checked three times. Hand luggage was inspected thoroughly before passengers were allowed to board the plane and scissors, razors, and other sharp items were confiscated.
According to Jalal Haider, vice president of government and international affairs, officials from the FAA and FBI have imposed strict security checks on all airlines, especially Saudia. “We have received strict orders to check all hand luggage. Partitions are used by Saudia to respect the privacy of the passengers. All security guards have also received orders to behave well when dealing with passengers.”
Despite this, for many travelers the journey has become an experience to be endured rather than enjoyed. Those who had to catch domestic flights to either Washington D.C. or New York City were so thoroughly inspected that it bordered on mistreatment.
Hussam Hariri and Etab Al-Ghamdi are both students in the US traveling back home with their children. When checking in their luggage at Minneapolis Airport, security guards inspected their bags piece by piece. “When my bearded husband objected, they claimed that their computer randomly selects which passengers are to be inspected this way,” his wife said.
Many passengers on the flight were students in the US who had decided to return home. F.A., a student in Virginia, decided to fly back to Saudi Arabia after he was interrogated by the FBI.
“They came to my home with a search warrant. They started asking my roommate, who is also Saudi, some questions. They shifted to me then, showing me a picture of myself with a wrong social security number and other personal information. They questioned me for four continuous hours. They spent all that time asking me very personal question that required very explicit answers because I have a flying license issued by the State of Virginia. It was like a scene from a movie.”
A.I. is another student who was waiting for the Saudia to resume their service. “I did no want to risk flying with any other airline because of all the harassment we have heard about.”
On the way to Washington D.C., A.I. was held at Minneapolis airport by FBI agents. “They interrogated me for a long time. I even missed my flight. They showed me a list a names and I was asked whether I knew any of them. The list included two of my uncles and a cousin. Their only crime was possessing a pilot’s license.”
A.I. said that he is not sure if he will visit the US again. Flight SV0034 finally took off after a delay of one hour, leaving behind three passengers in JFK airport in the company of FBI agents. All the meals on the flight were served with plastic forks!!
