Regarding The Delay Hajj Flight, This Is The Explanation Of The Indonesian Garuda Boss

President Director of Garuda Indonesia Irfan Setiaputra. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - Garuda Indonesia President Director Irfan Setiaputra spoke about the cause of a number of Hajj flights experiencing delays or delays.

He said the cause was because several planes were damaged and had to be repaired.

"Indeed, there were several aircraft that were damaged, and we had to repair them and it resulted in several groups being delayed by departure on several embarcations but we have already told the reason," he told reporters on Wednesday, June 14.

Furthermore, Irfan said that his party had also provided facilities for prospective pilgrims who were affected by the flight delays.

"For example, in the case in Banjarmasin, it is impossible for us to let them in the Hajj dormitory because the next batch will come, so we move some to the hotel at Garuda's expense," he explained.

Previously, in an evaluation meeting for the implementation of the 1444 H online Hajj led by the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy on Tuesday, June 6, last week, Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas assessed a number of reasons for the delay in Hajj flights submitted by the airline.

For Garuda airlines, there are delays in spare parts of aircraft that must be brought in from Lithuania due to disruption of the global supply chain due to the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.

Meanwhile, Saudia Airlines acknowledged that there was unpreparedness for the aircraft according to the contract, including from the capacity aspect.

On the other hand, on Monday, June 12, the Minister of Religion appreciated the improvement in timeliness and departure services for the second wave of Indonesian pilgrims by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This can be seen with an increase in timeliness of only 70 percent in the first five days of the first batch of departures to above 80 percent in the five days of the second wave of departure.

For your information, Indonesia as a whole received a quota of 229,000 prospective hajj candidates for the implementation of Hajj 1444 H. The Integrated Hajj Information and Computerization System (Siskohat) noted that as of June 12, 2023 at 24.00 WIB, 134,461 Indonesian Hajj participants had arrived in Saudi Arabia in 349 flying groups.