Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura (AP) II is ready to serve Saudi Arabia-bound Indonesian Hajj pilgrims through its five airports as of June 4, 2022.

"Coordination is underway between AP II, the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Immigration and Customs Office, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police (Polri), AirNav Indonesia, and airlines to ensure that the departure of Hajj pilgrims to the Holy Land will run well, starting from Hajj dormitories to AP II airports," AP II President Director Muhammad Awaluddin noted in a statement released on Friday.

The five airports are the Soekarno-Hatta (Tangerang, Banten), Kualanamu (Deli Serdang, North Sumatra), Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II (Palembang, South Sumatra), Sultan Iskandar Muda (Aceh), and Minangkabau (Padang, West Sumatra).

The airports will serve the departure of 41,713 Hajj pilgrims divided into 106 flight batches.

Soekarno-Hatta Airport will serve 73 flight batches comprising 29,221 Hajj pilgrims from Jakarta, West Java, Banten, and Lampung.

Kualanamu Airport will serve 10 flight batches comprising 3,854 Hajj pilgrims from North Sumatra. Minangkabau Airport will serve eight flight batches comprising 2,883 Hajj pilgrims from West Sumatra and Bengkulu

Meanwhile, 2,023 Hajj pilgrims from Aceh divided into six flight batches will depart from the Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport, and 3,732 Hajj pilgrims from South Sumatra and Bangka Belitung divided into nine flight batches will depart from the Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport.

"The departure process, including security checkpoints for the dispatch of Hajj pilgrims via the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, will be done at Hajj dormitories, supported by AP II personnel, facilities, and equipment," he stated.

This year, Saudi Arabia has opened Hajj pilgrimage for one million pilgrims from various countries. Indonesia has been allotted a quota of 100,051 for the pilgrimage.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Wednesday dispatched as many as 325 Hajj pilgrimage officers, who are members of the 2022 Hajj Organizing Committee (PPIH), to Saudi Arabia.

The 325 officers comprise 206 officers from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and related agencies and 119 officers from the Ministry of Health, director general of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Hilman Latief, noted in a written statement received here on Wednesday.

The officers have been dispatched to provide services to Indonesian Hajj pilgrims during their pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, he noted.

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Translator: Adimas Raditya FP, Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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