Saudi- Steps to reduce airport congestion suggested 

(MENAFN - Arab News) The Shoura Council urged authorities on Monday to take remedial measures to reduce the congestion of passengers at international airports in the Kingdom.

The request was made during the 74th ordinary session of the Shoura Council chaired by Dr. Amin Jaafri when the annual report of the General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) was tabled. Assistant Speaker of the Shoura Council, Fahad Al-Ahmed, told reporters that the house urged GACA to make use of the latest technology to expedite the clearance of long queues at the immigration counters at the international terminals. Al-Ahmed said the house suggested that the use of finger print machines and e-gates could reduce a large section of the crowd at these counters. The Kingdom's major airports are located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah and Dammam. In addition, there are domestic airports and regional airports in Abha, Buraidah, Jazan, Hail,Tabuk, Taif and Yanbu.

The house also advised GACA to consider reducing the price of jet fuel to reduce the cost of operations by local airlines. The members said such reduction in fuel prices would also attract more airlines to fly into the Kingdom. The observations on the annual report of GACA was tabled by the council's Committee on Transport and Communications and Information Technology headed by Faisal Taher. The council also requested the Board of Grievances to look into the reasons that led to the decline in the number of settled cases and it also urged the board to identify ways and means to settle cases of grievances without undue delay.

The house also noted with interest the opening of new branches at the King Fahd National Library both in the holy city of Makkah and in the Eastern Province. The council urged the Library to introduce new cultural and knowledge-based programs in the future.