Saudi Arabia launches 'Makkah Route' initiative for Hajj pilgrims

Saudi Arabia has launched the "Makkah Route" initiative in Indonesia and Malaysia in order to facilitate the journey of pilgrims, the Centre for International Communication (CIC) said in a statement.

"The service will offer pre-clearance of immigration for pilgrims at their respective points of embarkation," said Major-General Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al Yahya, director general of passports and head of the Kingdom’s “Makkah Route” initiative.

The decision to introduce the service in Malaysia and Indonesia was made on the basis of the large numbers of pilgrims coming from those two countries. However, with some 1.75 million pilgrims arriving from abroad last year, Saudi authorities are considering extending the service to other countries in the coming years.

The services include issuance of visas, customs and passport procedures, facilitating health requirements, as well as sorting luggage according to transportation and housing arrangements in Saudi Arabia. These pre-departure services will not only ease the access of the pilgrims into the Kingdom, but they will also allow them to head directly to their accommodations in Makkah and Madinah without having to deal with time-consuming procedures.

Luggage is handled by agencies that transport baggage directly to the visitors’ residences, the statement added.

The new initiative is part of the National Transformation Program 2020 that aims to improve Hajj services in accordance with the objectives of Vision 2030.

Hajj officially begins on the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah and ends on the 13th day of the same Islamic month, corresponding to August 19-24. More than 2.35 million pilgrims performed Hajj last year, about three-quarters of whom came from outside the Kingdom.

Photos courtesy of Centre for International Communication (CIC)