Madinah airport receives first Hajj flights from Algeria, Morocco, Philippines and Somalia

Saturday May 2, 2026

A Filipino pilgrim presents her paperwork at immigration at Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah late on Thursday. (SPA)

MADINAH: The first Hajj flights from the Philippines, Algeria, Somalia and Morocco touched down on Thursday at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah, marking the start of inbound pilgrim arrivals as the kingdom steps up preparations for the annual pilgrimage, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

According to SPA, the airport’s General Directorate of Passports handled travelers from all four countries and completed their entry processing smoothly, with no interruptions reported.

In remarks published by the state news agency, the directorate said it was fully prepared for this year’s Hajj season, pointing to the deployment of advanced technology and multilingual specialist staff at all air, land and sea entry points to help ensure pilgrims move through arrivals without delay.

Saudi Arabia oversees one of the world’s most complex annual logistical undertakings each year, receiving millions of Muslim pilgrims for Hajj from dozens of countries in the weeks leading up to the main rituals.

Last year, 1,673,230 pilgrims performed Hajj. Of that total, 1,506,576 arrived from abroad and 166,654 came from within the Kingdom, according to the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.

Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, regularly sends the biggest national Hajj contingent, followed by Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.