Haj pilgrims from Indonesia will begin arriving in the Kingdom on Monday. Indonesia sends the highest number of Haj pilgrims to the Kingdom.

The Indonesian government has made comprehensive arrangements for its pilgrims, Ahmed Jauhari, head of the Indonesian Haj mission in Jeddah, told Arab News.

The first flight of Indonesian pilgrims will arrive from Jakarta to Madinah on Monday and another flight from Makassar will arrive in Madinah the same day.

Around 168,000 pilgrims from Indonesia will perform Haj this year. More than 200,000 would typically come yearly, but the number has been axed in line with reduction quotas to make way for the Grand Mosque expansion.

He said that 371 flights through Garuda and Saudia will transport pilgrims from 10 different embarkation points in the country to Jeddah and Madinah.

“We will operate on average five flights to King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah daily,” he said.

“Many of these pilgrims have waited for up to 10 years to perform Haj.”

Juahari also said that 155,200 pilgrims will perform Haj through the government’s Haj mission while the remainder have opted for private tour operators.

The majority of pilgrims are women, he said.

Over 3, 000 personnel from various ministries, including the Ministry of Health, are being deployed by the Indonesian government to assist pilgrims.

The Indonesian Haj mission has also locally recruited 595 seasonal personnel in Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah.

A three-day orientation program was conducted for these personnel to get them acquainted with their tasks.

Indonesian Ambassador Abdurrahman Muhammed Fachir conveyed to the season employees general policies and procedures put down by Saudi authorities for Haj services, including reception and departure procedures, housing, transportation, catering, grouping and pilgrim movement, he said.