Indonesian hajj pilgrims to leave for Saudi on July 17

Jakarta, NU Online
Indonesian would-be hajj pilgrims will leave for Saudi Arabia in stages. They will start departing on July 17, 2018, through 13 embarkation airports in the country, the Religious Affairs Minister, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, said.

The departure of the country's 204 thousand would-be hajj pilgrims will be held until August 15, the minister stated in his office here on Monday.

"The administrative management of the hajj travel documents, such as passports and visas, will be carried out in Indonesia," Saifuddin was quoted by republika.co.id as saying.

In addition, the government is also preparing the flight batches of the would-be pilgrims, dormitory, embarkation process, and their transportation to Saudi Arabia.

According to him, the government has also been preparing accommodation, transportation, as well as their placement in Mina (Saudi Arabia), before they fly out from Indonesia.

Last year, there were 18 embarkation points in Indonesia, namely 13 major and five transit points.

The major embarkations include Aceh Embarkation (BTJ), Medan Embarkation (MES), Padang Embarkation (PDG), Batam Embarkation (BTH), Palembang Embarkation (PLM), Jakarta-Pondok Gede Embarkation (JKG), Jakarta-Bekasi Embarkation (JKS) Surakarta Embarkation (SOC), Surabaya Embarkation (SUB), Mataram Embarkation (LOP), Banjarmasin Embarkation (BDJ), Balikpapan Embarkation (BPN), and Ujung Pandang Embarkation (UPG).

The transit embarkations are in Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung, Central Kalimantan, and Gorontalo provinces. (Masdar)