{"id":38225,"date":"2025-05-25T14:35:13","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=38225"},"modified":"2025-05-25T14:41:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:41:24","slug":"makkah-route-initiative-for-a-seamless-and-facilitated-hajj-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/?p=38225","title":{"rendered":"Makkah Route Initiative.. For a Seamless and Facilitated Hajj Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; font-size: 14pt;\">Jedah &#8211; Ahmed AlZahrani<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spares no effort in providing comfort and ease to the Guests of Allah, ensuring they enjoy high-quality services and a smooth pilgrimage experience. In line with Saudi Vision 2030, the Ministry of Interior launched the <strong>&#8220;Makkah Route&#8221; Initiative<\/strong> as part of the broader <strong>&#8220;Pilgrim Experience Program&#8221;<\/strong> to revolutionize the way pilgrims are served.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The pilot phase of the initiative began in 2018, and in 2019 it was fully launched to significantly enhance the experience of pilgrims arriving from <strong>seven countries<\/strong> as a first stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Objective of the Makkah Route Initiative<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The main goal of the Makkah Route Initiative is to <strong>streamline Hajj procedures<\/strong> starting from pilgrims&#8217; countries of origin. Special attention is given to the elderly and individuals with special needs by automating and simplifying their travel procedures. These services are managed by Saudi passport control teams deployed abroad, ensuring a smooth and stress-free journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Services Included in the Initiative<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The initiative offers a range of pre-departure services at selected airports, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Issuance of electronic visas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Tagging, sorting, and registering luggage under the pilgrim\u2019s name.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Completing passport and customs procedures before departure.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Direct transportation of luggage to the pilgrims\u2019 accommodation in Makkah or Madinah.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Designated departure lounges for pilgrims to board their flights to Jeddah or Madinah airports.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">On arrival, pilgrims are transported by buses directly to their accommodations, while their luggage is delivered separately.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">These services dramatically reduce the time spent at entry points in the Kingdom to just a few minutes, making the Hajj journey more efficient and comfortable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Impact and Partnerships<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Since its launch, the initiative has served over <strong>617,756 pilgrims<\/strong>. It is implemented by the Ministry of Interior in coordination with the Ministries of <strong>Foreign Affairs, Health, Hajj and Umrah, and Media<\/strong>, along with the <strong>General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA), the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority, and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Airports Covered by the Initiative<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">The Makkah Route currently operates in <strong>11 airports across 7 countries<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Indonesia<\/strong>:<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Soekarno\u2013Hatta International Airport \u2013 Jakarta<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Juanda International Airport \u2013 Surabaya<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Adisumarmo International Airport \u2013 Solo<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Pakistan<\/strong>:<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Islamabad International Airport<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Jinnah International Airport \u2013 Karachi<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Turkey<\/strong>:<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Istanbul International Airport<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Esenbo\u011fa International Airport \u2013 Ankara<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Malaysia<\/strong>:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Kuala Lumpur International Airport<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Morocco<\/strong>:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Mohammed V International Airport \u2013 Casablanca<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>Bangladesh<\/strong>:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport \u2013 Dhaka<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">F\u00e9lix Houphou\u00ebt-Boigny International Airport \u2013 Abidjan<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jedah &#8211; Ahmed AlZahrani The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spares no effort in providing comfort and ease to the Guests of Allah, ensuring they enjoy high-quality services and a smooth pilgrimage experience. In line with Saudi Vision 2030, the Ministry of Interior launched the &#8220;Makkah Route&#8221; Initiative as part of the broader &#8220;Pilgrim Experience Program&#8221; &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,388],"tags":[20533,20532,3880,4541,11299,6895,20531],"class_list":["post-38225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-slide","tag-facilitated","tag-for-a-seamless-and","tag-hajj","tag-initiative","tag-journey","tag-makkah","tag-route"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38227,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38225\/revisions\/38227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aldiplomasy.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}