Saudi Arabia: Six more airports to receive foreign Haj pilgrims

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia has been gearing up to receive foreign Haj pilgrims this year at different airports in the Kingdom.

Apart from Jeddah and Madinah, now Riyadh, Dammam, Taif and Yanbu airports will also receive Haj pilgrims who are flying through Saudia.

Saudia, the national flag carrier, has announced that it will be transporting pilgrims from more than 100 scheduled destinations and 14 seasonal destinations around the globe into the Kingdom.

Amer Al-Khushail, CEO of Hajj and Umrah of Saudia Airlines also revealed that Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah will receive the first flights arriving in the Kingdom on May 21.

The Saudia will provide a smooth travel experience for pilgrims as it is pressing 176 aircraft to transport pilgrims and allocating more than 1.2 million seats.

He said that 8000 cabin crew can speak 42 different languages. Added that Saudia also offers a unique collection of educational e-books on how to perform Hajj and Umrah in more than 14 languages.

Saudia has updated its in-flight Islamic content, with more than 134 hours of various religious programs and 590 hours of Qur’an recitations, in addition to many other Islamic programs available in several languages.

Saudia Group has also expanded its Hajj season plan activities to include sharing awareness messages to pilgrims in their languages through Hajj missions, Hajj organizations present in Makkah and Madinah, and across Hajj residences. In these messages, the company clarifies all matters related to the pilgrims’ journeys, including details related to baggage limits and requirements in order to facilitate an easy pilgrimage, media reports quoted him as saying.

The senior official of Saudia also said that flyadeal would be involved for the first time in operations to transport pilgrims.

Al Khushail highlighted that Saudia Group aims to achieve operational efficiency while fully complying with safety standards, providing pilgrims with many further services including arranging the dispatch of zamzam water bottles to various destinations and providing additional flights for pilgrims wishing to travel to Madinah by air.