Friday, February 28, 2020

Jakarta -  Lion Air is ready to airlift about 13,000 umrah pilgrims from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport or Medina Airport and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah to return to Indonesia.

The low-cost airline's Corporate Communication Strategic Danang Mandala Prihantoro, stated in a written statement on Friday, February 28, 2020, in Jakarta that the airline was communicating with the pilgrims who were already landed in Jeddah and Medina regarding the return process following Saudi Arabia's prompt decision to suspend umrah entry over the coronavirus fear.

"We prepare flights from Indonesia with crews and no passenger [ferry flight] to pick them up based on the schedule," said Danang.

Danang explained that the airline will operate wide-body aircraft Airbus 330-300 CEO (440 seats) and Airbus 330-900NEO (436 seats). "All aircraft have been checked under the standard operating procedure and are declared airworthy for flight," Danang added.

Lion Air would keep monitoring and coordinating with local aviation authorities in Saudi Arabia and report the latest developments.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1313474/lion-air-to-airlift-13000-indonesian-pilgrims-in-saudi-arabia