Manama: Authorities at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in the Red Sea city of Jeddah have denied claims that a plane with an indecent livery had landed at the airport to transport pilgrims home.
A picture of a plane with the risqué images of three women as its livery and allegedly parked in the Jeddah airport apron was widely circulated on social media. The caption claimed that the aircraft was waiting to carry passengers who had performed Haj to their home country.
However, Turki Al Dheeb, the head of public relations at Jeddah airport, said that the picture was an old one and that it was taken five years ago.
He added that the aircraft belonged to a Saudi investor and that his activities were terminated five years earlier, Saudi news site Sabq rported.
Al Dheeb insisted that the apron in the picture where the aircraft was parked was not the one reserved for Haj and Umrah passengers.
Reacting to the denial, several commenters called for action to identify those behind the allegations and hold them legally accountable for spreading fake news.
The Haj season ended last week, but some of the more than 1.7 million pilgrims who had arrived from abroad to perform the Haj have not left the kingdom yet.
