MAKKAH: The Makkah Route Initiative, introduced to streamline travel procedures, has served 242,272 pilgrims from seven countries for this year’s Haj.
The pilgrims arrived on 667 flights at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah and the Prince Mohammad bin Abdul Aziz International Airport in Madinah.
The initiative has completed its mandate for the year, following successful arrival of all beneficiaries in Saudi Arabia from various countries including Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, and, for the first time, Côte d’Ivoire.
It facilitates issuing electronic visas, gathering biometric data, handling all travel-related procedures at the departure airport, ensuring pilgrims have a clean bill of health, and coding and sorting baggage according to transportation and accommodation arrangements in Saudi Arabia.
According to Saudi Press Agency, upon arrival in the Kingdom, the pilgrims are transported directly by buses to their accommodations in Makkah and Madinah.
