Sunday, August 15, 2021

Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plans to increase the number of Umrah pilgrims to 120,000 per day from 60,000 at present, according to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

“There is an imminent move towards raising the Umrah capacity to 90,000 pilgrims and then to 120,000 pilgrims per day. This will be made in coordination with the competent sides,” Abdulaziz Wazan, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said on Saturday during a TV interview.

“The Saudi companies that provide services to the Umrah pilgrims are ready to provide services of the highest quality,” he added.

Umrah permits issued by the Saudi authorities also include praying inside the Grand Mosque in Makkah, visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, and praying in the Al Rawda Al Sharifa there.

Saudi Arabia started receiving Umrah requests from abroad for vaccinated pilgrims from August 10 (Muharram 1, 1443 AH).

The General Directorate of Passports has finished making all the necessary human and technical preparations to receive and provide the necessary services for pilgrims coming to the Kingdom from abroad.

King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on Saturday received the first flight of pilgrims coming from Nigeria.

Saudi Arabia allowed foreign pilgrims from green list countries after about 18 months of a temporary ban due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The countries currently facing the travel ban – prompted by the continued surge in cases of COVID-19 and its variants – are India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Lebanon.

Source: https://www.siasat.com/saudi-arabia-plans-to-increase-umrah-pilgrims-to-120000-per-day-2178199/