Indonesia’s first Haj group arrives at Madinah airport

RIYADH: Indonesia’s first Haj group of about 3,500 pilgrims arrived in Madinah on Friday. Tuan Sunarko, charge d’affaires at the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, accompanied by senior officials from the consulate in Jeddah, welcomed the pilgrims, who arrived at Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah. The first Haj flight, carrying 436 pilgrims on board GA-1101 from Indonesia, took off from Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi, said Syarif Shahab, information secretary at the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah. He said Indonesian pilgrims will arrive in Madinah till the first week of September; the rest will arrive at Jeddah airport, Shahab said and added that a total of 168,800 Indonesians are expected to perform Haj this year. About 155,000 Indonesians have registered for the state-run Haj program, whereas the rest have opted for premium services organized by private operators in the largest Muslim country in the world. Comprehensive arrangements, according to Shahab, have been made by the Haj mission in coordination with the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs to ensure pilgrims a smooth and hassle-free Haj. A total of 3,000 staff will be working to help pilgrims this year, including workers from the country’s health and religious ministries. A further 500 workers have been locally recruited and trained to assist during the pilgrimage, he noted. Indonesia each year sends the highest number of Haj pilgrims to the Kingdom. Notably, the country normally sends about 200,000 pilgrims each Haj, but this year the total number of pilgrims is 168,800, a 20 percent reduction in Indonesia’s Haj quota due to the Grand Mosque expansion project. -arabnews