JEDDAH: Tabung Haji’s (TH) scheduling of earlier flights for Malaysian haj pilgrims to the Holy Land this year has led to faster processing upon arrival at the King Abdulaziz International Airport.
There are two entry points into Saudi Arabia for Malaysian haj pilgrims — Jeddah and Medina.
TH’s Jeddah operations director Mohamad Zamry Mohd Noor said of the total 64 haj flights scheduled to land in Jeddah, 14 have arrived so far with more than 5,000 pilgrims.
“In the past, most Malaysian haj flights would land in Medina. But now, Tabung Haji (TH) has planned earlier flights to Jeddah, which makes it more comfortable at the airport.
“There aren’t many arrivals of pilgrims from other countries yet, so it is very smooth at the arrival hall, immigration, baggage collection, and customs,” he told Malaysian media here.
Zamry said previously, when pilgrims arrive closer to the Wukuf date, processing at the airport can take between 5-6 hours. With the earlier arrivals, it now takes only 2-3 hours.
Another improvement this year is the enhancement of the e-haj system implemented by the Saudi Arabian government.
“Before, there were counters we had to collect stickers from, which had to be pasted in the passports, and another counter to collect bus tickets for transportation from the airport to Medina or Mecca.
“With e-haj system, these manual processes are no longer necessary. There’s less paperwork and the process is shorter,” he added.
Haj pilgrims are also provided with Saudi Immigration Arrival Cards when departing Malaysia, which further speeds up processing upon arrival in Jeddah.
“It is also good that our haj pilgrims understand the process they will go through, and have proven to be disciplined, queuing up in an orderly manner and not rushing or pushing,” Zamry said.
He attributed this to the series of courses and briefings organised by TH in Malaysia to prepare the pilgrims on what to expect.
“No single haj pilgrim from Malaysia has been stopped for bringing in any prohibited items. Overall, our pilgrims have followed instructions and regulations well. Even those who brought in food items have packed them well,” Zamry added.
After clearing immigration and customs, Malaysian pilgrims are led to a waiting area where they can pray, use the washroom, are given refreshments and meals, before boarding busses to Medina or Mecca.
The remaining 50 flights of pilgrims to Jeddah are arriving from now until August 26, averaging 2-4 flights a day.