TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As many as 58 flights carrying 23,443 Indonesian pilgrims, have arrived in Madinah since August 21 and will leave for Mecca on August 30 in phases to perform the Hajj worship procession.

Data obtained from the Indonesian Hajj pilgrimage Media Center on Wednesday, August 26 at 5 am local time or 9 am Western Indonesian Standard Time showed that 23,443 of Indonesian prospective Hajj pilgrims had arrived in Madinah in addition to 290 Hajj organizing committee members of the 1436H (2015) Hajj season.

The airplanes transporting the Hajj congregation had landed at the Amir Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz (AMAA) Airport in Madinah.

The pilgrims, who have arrived in Madinah, embarked on the journey from different departure points, such as Medan, Batam, Padang, Jakarta, Solo, Surabaya, Ujung Pandang (Makassar), Balikpapan and Lombok.

The pilgrims had departed for Madinah directly from a number of regions in the country.

This year, a total of 168,800 prospective Hajj pilgrims from across the country are expected to depart for Saudi Arabia, namely to the holy cities of Mecca and Madinah.

Out of the 168,800, a total of 155,200 will leave for the Holy Land with regular facilities (BPIH Reguler), while another 13,600 will be offered special facilities (BPIH Khusus).

According to the Religious Affairs Ministry, the first group of Hajj pilgrims will leave for Madinah between August 21 and September 3.

The second period of departure, however, will begin from September 4 and end on September 17, with the Jeddah airport being the landing destination, after which theyll proceed to Mecca for the Hajj procession.

The pilgrims, who have visited Madinah, will then return to Indonesia through the Jeddah airport after completing the Hajj procession in Mecca.

On the other hand, the Hajj pilgrims who will leave for Mecca through Jeddah airport, will subsequently return through the Madinah airport.

ANTARA