Clarification of the pilot “Al-Ghamdi” • Al-Marsad newspaper

Al-Marsad newspaper: Captain Abdullah Al-Ghamdi explained, on Monday evening, the reasons for the difference in the time of the outbound flight from the return trip; Citing the example of a flight from Jeddah to Riyadh, and vice versa.

Al-Ghamdi said in an interview on the “Al-Resala” channel: “The wind plays a key role, as it always comes from west to east, so when you take off from Riyadh to Jeddah, the winds are reverse and slow the journey.”

He pointed out that “the winds are active at high speeds in the winter and in the upper atmosphere, they are fierce and exceed 300 kilometers per hour, and thus reduce the speed of the plane and increase the time and fuel combustion.”

Al-Ghamdi added, “The journey from Riyadh to Jeddah takes an hour and 45 minutes, while the return from Jeddah to Riyadh takes an hour and 5 minutes, due to the wind, despite the availability of the same data.”