"Aboard Garuda Airlines, the first batch of Indonesian hajj pilgrims who get the Road to Mecca facility are scheduled to arrive at the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on July 30, 2018,"
Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Operational Airport Development, Abdulrahman Saad Hajar, told foreign journalists when closely observing preparations to welcome hajj pilgrims at the Jeddah International Airport recently.
According to him, "the Road to Mecca" came up from an idea applied by the Saudi Government to make the trips of hajj pilgrims easier from the departures from the country to their arrivals at their dormitories.
The trips are made possible as all the immigration processes including the checking of passports and visas as well as fingerprint recording have been done in the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta.
With the Road to Mecca facility, the flying time could be reduced by about 20 minutes, Abdulrahman said.
The Road to Mecca facility is the first idea applied at the Hajj Season 2018 for Indonesian hajj pilgrims who depart from the Jakarta embarkation and those from Malaysia.
The Kingdom Government hoped that 65,000 Indonesian and Malaysian hajj pilgrims enjoy the facility to make their hajj pilgrimage convenient in the Holy Land.
The Kingdom Government is trying to apply the same facility for all hajj pilgrims from different countries and it was expected to be implemented in the next hajj seasons.
Reporter: Libertina W. Ambari
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
