It did not reveal where the flight would originate but said all arrangements were completed to receive the guests of God at the airport.

Sources at the Indian Consulate General in Jeddah said the first Haj flight from the country would arrive in the Kingdom on Thursday. Pilgrims from Pakistan and Bangladesh are expected to arrive from Friday.

Abdul Aziz Al-Hazmi, deputy director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines who chairs the committee of airline representatives, said 50 carriers would be transporting pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and more than 20,000 coaches would be transporting them inside the country during the Haj season.

Saudia alone will fly about 500,000 foreign pilgrims from 42 embarkation points on special Haj flights and scheduled flights.

Airport sources said the United Agents Office (UAO), the official agency responsible for internal transport of pilgrims, would depoly about 8,000 workers at the Haj Terminal to serve the pilgrims.

The workers include 4,400 laborers who will load pilgrims’ luggage to the buses that take them to Makkah or Madinah from the airport.

They said other employees would help complete arrival procedures, resolve any problems pilgrims might face at the points of entry and guide them to government departments, banks, airline offices and other services.

The UAO said it would explain to pilgrims their rights and duties and provide them with pamphlets indicating the services to which they were entitled and useful addresses and contact numbers.

The office said in view of the large number of pilgrims arriving via KAIA, it has assigned special gathering points for each flight to make it easier to direct pilgrims to their buses waiting outside the terminal.

The office, under the supervision of the Haj Ministry, annually serves more than 2 million pilgrims. It has branch offices established at all other air, land and sea inlets.

There are 16 points consisting of three air, 11 land and two sea inlets (Jeddah Islamic Port and Yanbu Seaport).