The Ministry Of Transportation Is Ready To Provide Optimal Air Services For The 2023 Hajj Pilgrims

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) together with stakeholders in the aviation sector are ready to provide optimal air transportation services to prospective pilgrims for Hajj 2023.

"We are ready to provide support to the Ministry of Religion as the leading sector for organizing the Hajj. Through safe, safe and comfortable air transportation services for pilgrims for Hajj candidates," said Director of Air Transportation of the Directorate General of Air Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation Eka Putu Cahyadi, quoted from Antara, Saturday, May 27.

A number of efforts have been made by the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to launch the implementation of the 2023 Hajj through air transportation services, including preparing air transportation facilities and infrastructure to prepare personnel tasked with maintaining the safety, security and air transportation services for prospective hajj pilgrims.

In 2023, 13 embarkation airports and Hajj debarkation have been prepared and six intermediate embarkation airports.

"This year there is an additional embarkation airport, namely West Java International Airport in Kertajati. This is something new and we have been preparing for it long ago," said Eka Putu.

He said that in the 2023 hajj, as many as 30 percent of prospective hajj candidates were elderly (elderly). Therefore, the Ministry of Transportation has coordinated with airport operators and airlines to provide elderly friendly services.

"Prospective elderly hajj is one of the main focuses of our services," said Eka Putu.

Meanwhile, the Director of Airworthiness and Aircraft Operations (DKPPU) of the Directorate General of Air Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation M. Mauludin explained that to ensure flight safety, the Ministry of Transportation through DKPPU inspectors and airport authorities had monitored air transportation through ramp checks at 13 Hajj embarkation airports that had been carried out since February 27, 2023.

Supervision includes documents that are required to be onboarded on aircraft, monitor problems that occur and repair them, monitor routine/scale maintenance that must be carried out and check the general conditions of the aircraft every arrival and departure.

"As of May 25, 17 inspections (ramp checks) have been carried out, 14 aircraft that were examined with zero findings. This means that all aircraft that have been ramp checked have been declared airworthy," said Mauludin.

Meanwhile, airlines set by the government through the Ministry of Religion to serve the 2023 Hajj transportation, namely Garuda Indonesia as many as 14 aircraft and Saudi Arabia Airlines as many as 10 aircraft as non-scheduled commercial flights (charter).

The embarrations of Garuda Indonesia airlines are located in Aceh, Medan, Padang, Jakarta (Pondok Gede), Solo, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin, Makassar and Lombok. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia Airlines is in Batam, Palembang, Jakarta (Pondok Gede), Jakarta (Bekasi), Kertajati and Surabaya.

The two airlines will serve a total of 221,000 Hajj candidates, which are the total quotas for the 2023 Hajj pilgrims. A total of 537 groups will depart from Indonesia. Garuda Indonesia will serve 287 groups and Saudi Arabia Airlines serves 250 groups.

Meanwhile, regarding the plan to add a hajj quota in 2023, the Ministry of Transportation through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also granted flight permits for additional quota batches.

The flight time for pilgrims is divided into four waves consisting of two batches of departures and two waves of arrivals. Wave I departs for Medina (24 May-7 June 2023) and wave II departs for Jeddah (8 June-22 June 2023).

As for repatriation, wave I repatriation from Jeddah (July 4-July 18, 2023) and wave II repatriation from Medina (19 July-3 August 2023).