Ministry Of Religion Threatens To Cross Out Garuda Indonesia From The 2025 Hajj Aviation Airlines

Illustration of the aircraft of PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk. (Between)

The Director General of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) Hilman Latief explained that the Ministry of Religion can cross out Garuda Indonesia from the list of hajj airlines next year following frequent delays in flight during the 2024 Hajj season.

"With this incident, the Ministry of Religion will reconsider Garuda Indonesia's involvement in flights for Hajj pilgrims in the coming year," said Director General of Hajj and Umrah at the Ministry of Religion Hilman Latief in Jakarta, Monday, July 8, as reported by Antara.

In the 2024 hajj operational phase, two airlines serve Hajj flights, namely Garuda Indonesia and Saudia Airlines. Garuda Indonesia often gets the spotlight because it often experiences flight problems when transporting Indonesian pilgrims,

The phase of repatriation of Indonesian pilgrims which has been taking place since June 22, 2024, has again been marked by flight delays by Garuda Indonesia Airlines.

This time, it was experienced by the Balikpapan 9 Embarkation Group (BPN-09) congregation. Delays even occurred more than a day, namely 28 hours. Whereas previously the 3rd Kloter Hajj pilgrims, the Kualanamu Embarkation (KNO-03) also experienced delays for 12 hours.

According to Hilman, flight delays make the congregation even more tired. In addition, it has an impact on all aspects such as accommodation, consumption, and transportation.

"Delays like this make the congregation tired. They are forced to bring the cabin suitcase back because they have just been informed on the bus if there is a delay. It's tiring," he said.

In fact, notifications for flight delays are often sudden when the congregation has left the hotel and is on their way or already at the airport.

"Even the congregation is already on the bus and ready to go to AMAA Madinah Airport, they will only be informed if there is a delay. This happened similar to KNO-03. Obviously Garuda Indonesia is not professional," said Hilman.

Director of Domestic Hajj Services Saiful Mujab said Garuda's performance in organizing the Hajj this year was really bad.

In the first week of the phase of repatriation of pilgrims, more than 50 percent of flights experienced delays. Of the 52 clusters, 38 batches flew not on schedule due to delays.

"In the second week of repatriation, a total of 155 Indonesian pilgrims have been flown by Garuda Indonesia to their homeland. Of the 155 groups, 75 groups have experienced delays or 48.39 percent," said Saiful Mujab.

"In the first week there was KNO 03 which was delayed 12 hours 30 minutes, this second week there was BPN 09 which was delayed up to 28 hours 10 minutes. This is very severe," he added.

He again asked Garuda Indonesia to focus on efforts to improve performance on the rest of flights for the repatriation of Indonesian pilgrims.

Saiful asked Garuda to ensure that the aircraft to be used is ready and available, the flight crew is also ready for duty, so that the potential for delays or flight delays does not happen again.

"Prepare a problematic plane replacement for aircraft, according to a work contract with the Ministry of Religion. It's a pity for the congregation if Garuda continues to delay. Not to mention that the congregation must board a domestic plane to the province of origin which must be delayed due to being slow from Saudi Arabia," he said.