Saudi Arabia’s ‘Makkah Route’ expanded for Hajj 2023

Saudi Arabia’s ‘Makkah Route’, a government program to help Hajj pilgrims, has been expanded to include Turkey and Ivory Coast this year, the kingdom’s Ministry of Interior announced this weekend.

Makkah Route is a government program  to help Hajj pilgrims from a number of countries with visa, customs and passport issues, as well as dealing with health requirements, luggage, transport and housing arrangements in Saudi Arabia.

The initiative was launched in several countries in 2018 when the Saudi authorities began to put measures in place to ease travel procedures for pilgrims from abroad.

The service was introduced in Malaysia and Indonesia first, two of the countries with the largest proportion of Hajj pilgrims.

The expansion of the initiative will now serve pilgrims in seven countries including Pakistan, Morocco and Bangladesh.

All services are handled from the Hajj pilgrims’ point of departure in their home country or country of residence.

Once pilgrims arrive in the kingdom, they move directly to their place of residence in Makkah and Madinah via buses with a designated route and their luggage is delivered to where they will be staying.

Collaborative program
The ministry implemented the initiative in co-operation with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health, Hajj and Umrah, the General Authority of Civil Aviation, the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority “SDAIA”, “Doyuf (Guests) Al Rahman Program”, one of the Saudi Vision 2030 executive programs , and the General Directorate of Passports.

Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed an agreement earlier this week to implement the Road to Makkah initiative, which will help simplify immigration procedures for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims from Pakistan.

Saudi Deputy Minister of Interior Dr Nasser Al Dawood and Pakistani Minister of Interior Rana Sanaullah signed the agreements in Islamabad on Wednesday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

In the first phase, the service will be available at Islamabad International Airport, where around 26,000 pilgrims will be able to use it, and the service will then be extended to Karachi and Lahore airports.

Hajj flights from Pakistan will begin on Sunday, with the final flight departing for Saudi Arabia on June 21.