JAKARTA - Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak revealed that around 2,000 Indonesian umrah pilgrims had trouble returning from Saudi Arabia due to flight disruptions, especially on travel routes that use transit.
The statement was made by Dahnil at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta, Tuesday night, March 10.
"I don't know exactly the data, there is no update, but the last one has returned because there are stranded people. There are about 2,000 who have left," said Dahnil.
According to him, the pilgrims who experienced a delay in returning generally used indirect or transit flights so that they were affected by the conflict situation in the Middle East region.
Dahnil explained that the continued flight disruptions made the travel schedule of the pilgrims change so that some of them were temporarily stuck abroad.
"Initially, the average who was stranded or failed to return was because the plane was in transit," he said.
Apart from the issue of flight routes, the high ticket prices are also an obstacle for some pilgrims to return to Indonesia immediately. This condition makes some pilgrims have to wait longer while looking for tickets at a more affordable price.
"Then the ticket price is expensive, so they are forced to stop a lot while there to find tickets that can be reached," said Dahnil.
However, he said that some of the pilgrims who had been held back had now managed to return home.
The government, he continued, continues to coordinate with relevant ministries and airlines to anticipate similar obstacles so that they do not occur again on the next umrah pilgrimage.
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