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Saudi Arabia rejects visa applications of local pilgrims planning to travel on carriers other than SriLankan or Saudia
Saudi Arabia has started rejecting visa applications of local pilgrims who book their travel to Mecca on carriers other than SriLankan Airlines or Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), despite the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) saying it cannot sanction such a monopoly.
The CAASL has alerted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka of the matter. Visa requirements are, however, the prerogative of the receiving State. Sri Lanka has been allotted a quota of 3,000 Hajj pilgrims per year, while 35,000 to 40,000 of them travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.
“According to market information, travel agents who issued over 200 tickets to go to Jeddah and Medina on several airlines have had to apply for a refund,” said a travel agent, requesting anonymity. “There was no prior notice given, and they had to pay heavy penalties at the time of the refund.”
Earlier this year, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia wrote to the CAASL saying that Saudia was the national carrier of the country and that, “in accordance with national regulations is authorised to conduct the international commercial carriage of Hajj pilgrims in 2018”.
“Therefore, we seek your competent authority’s approval to allow Saudia to participate in the carriage of pilgrims between the two respective countries (50%) each within the quota assigned by the Ministry of Hajj and Umra,” the letter from GACA’s Assistant President for Economic Policies and Air Transport read. “In addition, GACA will not authorise any third party carriers to operate Hajj flights from Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia.”
The letter states that Saudia will subsequently file its appropriate flight plan and fulfil the necessary safety and regulatory requirements in order to obtain the necessary operational permits.
The CAASL, however, rejected the proposal. “We said we are not in agreement with it because it is not in line with Sri Lanka’s policy of permitting airline operations,” a senior official said. He did not wish to be named.
The GACA letter was sent for the Hajj season which took place in August. However, the Saudi Arabian Embassy has now started imposing this requirement upon Sri Lankan pilgrims looking to take part in the Umrah pilgrimage, a non-mandatory lesser pilgrimage made by Muslims to Mecca which may be performed at any time of the year.
“What will happen now is that when pilgrims who book on airlines other than SriLankan or Saudia, the Embassy won’t issue a visa,” the CAASL official said. “We have sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka as well because the aviation regulator has no control over the visa regime.”
Till last year, the Embassy did not ask to see the ticket, said a travel agent. A vaccination card and the travel agent’s submission sufficed. “Now they want the ticket either from SriLankan or Saudia, franked by the respective airline’s head office,” he said.
Pilgrims have raised protests as they have lost the freedom to choose prices and routes of their choice (Saudia flies direct). “Someone who would want to go to Dubai first and then travel to Saudi cannot now do so,” said one agent. “Saudia’s main hubs are Riyadh, Dammam and Jeddah. There are also other airlines that offer better in-flight services, baggage allowance and pricing.”
Sri Lanka’s Muslim Religious Affairs Ministry has also been notified of the issue. “There was an issue also during Hajj and we spoke to the relevant authorities at the Saudi Embassy,” said Fahim Hashim, the brother and private secretary of Minister M H A Haleem. “We could do so because the Hajj pilgrimage is overseen by a government-to-government agreement that is renewed every year, and this agreement has no such clauses. When we explained that, they lifted the requirement.”
“But for Umrah, the visa does not come to our department,” he continued. “They are given to travel operators from Saudi Arabia and we have no control.”
The matter, however, has been addressed to the Ministry which has required the travel operators to lodge a formal written complaint. “Once that comes, we will address the Saudi Arabians diplomatically, through the Foreign Ministry and CAASL.”
The Ministry has sought clarification from CAASL about its response. “In this particular case, there will be an agreement between CAASL and GACA,” Mr Hashim explained. “If such an agreement does not have a relevant clause related to air travel, we can take it up.”
“We are really for the open market economy,” he stressed.