JAKARTA: A fast-track clearance for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims — known as the “Makkah Route” — has been opened at Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport.
The initiative comes as the first groups of pilgrims left from six Indonesian cities, including the capital.
Indonesian and Saudi officials, including Osama bin Mohammed Al-Shuaibi, the Kingdom’s ambassador to Indonesia, were present at the official launch of the fast-track facility on Tuesday.
Airport operator Angkasa Pura has installed 20 booths to process Hajj pilgrims, with each counter manned by two Saudi immigration officers.
“This is the first time the immigration process has taken place in Jakarta, so they will not have to go through custom clearance on arrival in Saudi Arabia and can go directly to their buses, which will take them to their accommodation, while their luggage will be handled and delivered directly to their respective hotels,” Al-Shuaibi said.
“This is a step to improve our Hajj services. We have introduced it this year at Jakarta, where about 60,000 pilgrims are expected to depart. We will introduce it in four cities next time and eventually we hope to introduce it all Hajj embarkations in Indonesia,” he said.
The envoy said that about 400 pilgrims underwent the fast-track clearance in an hour at the airport on Tuesday.
“We appreciate King Salman’s initiative that makes the pilgrims’ journey much easier. It shows that we have a deep and close relation,” Indonesia’s Minister of Social Affairs, Idrus Marham, said.
Director-General of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Nizar Ali, said that 4,486 pilgrims had left from Surakarta, Surabaya, Jakarta, Padang, Makassar and Lombok. Up to 221,000 pilgrims are expected to leave Indonesia this year, with the last departure on Aug. 14.
Garuda, the Indonesian airline, expects to fly as many as 108,000 pilgrims in 280 groups from around the country.
Among the 393 pilgrims who left Jakarta was 91-year-old Mohammad Hasan Saad, from East Jakarta, the oldest person in the group.
Hanif Fakri, a member of the medical staff assisting the group, said this was his second pilgrimage, this time by carrying out the task as a medical officer, after his first Hajj in 2012.
Hanafi bin Dogol, a 50-year-old pilgrim from East Jakarta, told Arab News that he had been on a seven-year waiting list waiting for his chance to go on Hajj.
“I have been practicing and learning the rituals. I hope I can accomplish the pilgrimage in the most favorable manner,” he said.
Fast track to Hajj on Jakarta’s Makkah Route Initiative
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Fast track to Hajj on Jakarta’s Makkah Route Initiative
- A fast-track clearance for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims has been opened at Jakarta’s Soekarno Hatta airport
- The initiative comes as the first groups of pilgrims left from six Indonesian cities, including the capital
Rare sighting of critically endangered leatherback turtle in Red Sea
- Turtles travel thousands of kilometers to Red Sea
- Nesting 6,500km away in India’s Andaman Islands
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Wildlife has documented a rare sighting of a leatherback sea turtle in the Red Sea, marking a significant biological record for one of the planet’s most critically endangered marine species.
The sighting occurred approximately 30 km off the coast of Al-Qunfudhah within the Blue Holes Protected Area, a newly established marine reserve, according to a recent report from the Saudi Press Agency.
The NCW said the presence of a leatherback in these waters was an exceptional event.
Recognized as the largest turtle species on Earth, the leatherback can weigh up to 900 kilograms. It has a unique leathery, black carapace — distinguished by five longitudinal ridges rather than a hard bony shell — and able to dive to depths exceeding 1,000 meters.
Noting the species’ migratory nature, the center explained that leatherbacks travel thousands of kilometers foraging for jellyfish. The specimen likely navigated through the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait in search of food.
This is considered a remarkable journey, the NCW said, noting that the nearest known populations reside in the Indian Ocean, spanning waters from South Africa to Sri Lanka (roughly 7,000 to 8,000 km away).
The closest known nesting grounds are located in India’s Andaman Islands, approximately 6,500 kilometers away. No nesting activity has been recorded in the Red Sea.
According to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the leatherback is Critically Endangered in the Indian Ocean.
While data for the Red Sea and Arabian Gulf is scarce, recent isolated sightings include a juvenile recorded in Jordan in December 2025 and another off Djibouti in 2019.
The NCW emphasized that these rare appearances highlight the ecological importance of the Kingdom's marine conservation efforts in the Red Sea.
The center pointed to the Farasan Islands Marine Protected Area, along with the new Blue Holes and Ras Hatiba reserves, as critical sanctuaries that could support the expansion in range of such endangered species.
