Makkah Road’ Initiative Launched in Indonesia

Jakarta, MINA –The first flight of Indonesian pilgrims as part of the “Makkah Road” initiative left the Indonesian capital for the Haj pilgrimage on Tuesday.

The pilgrims finalized entry procedures into the Kingdom at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport here in the presence of the head of the Kingdom’s delegation for “Makkah Road” initiative and Director General of Passports Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya; Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Osama Bin Muhammad Al-Shoabi; and members of the supervisory committee from the relevant authorities on the management and operation of the initiative, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Participants in the launch of the initiative were briefed on organizing the service at the airport and the progress of its implementation.

They also met with the Indonesian pilgrims departing through the unified electronic lane at Jakarta airport.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia officially launched the “Makkah Road” initiative by commissioning the first two flights carrying pilgrims from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The initiative began with finalizing the entry visas into Saudi Arabia from a pilgrim’s own country, at the airport where the originating flight takes off from, in collaboration with various related Saudi government agencies to facilitate pilgrimage arrangements and requirements.

This comes as the Saudi Ministry of Health announced that they have begum checking pilgrims’ health requirements electronically without the need to see the papers of vaccines at the airport in Kuala Lumpur on the first trip of the pilgrims of Malaysia, which arrived on Saturday at Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah.

The pilgrims who arrived under the Makkah Road Initiative have their fingerprints taken and passports stamped at the pilgrims’ country of departure and their entry into Saudi Arabia would be facilitated like a domestic flight while their baggage would be sent to their places of residence through the Ministry of Haj.
(T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA