Haj pilgrimage begins on Feb. 14

Haj pilgrimage begins on Feb. 14

JAKARTA (JP): The first batch of over 180,000 Indonesians due
to make the annual holy haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia will
depart on Feb. 14.

The first departures are scheduled to leave from airports in
Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra at 8
a.m. They are scheduled to arrive at King Abdul Aziz airport in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia the same day.

They will immediately be followed by another group due to
depart later in the day from Surakarta, Central Java, Makassar,
South Sulawesi and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The government announced recently that it had also designated
Banda Aceh as an embarkation point for Haj pilgrims.

The first to leave from Aceh will depart on Feb. 20.

The Haj pilgrimage is a ritual which Muslims are expected to
perform at least once in their lifetime.

The official cost of this year's pilgrimage is Rp 17.76
million (US$2,501) and is actually lower than the Rp 21.85
million set last year when the economic crisis was at its peak.

The more "affordable" price is also reflected in the number of
pilgrims that have registered and paid to go on the haj. Last
year a mere 71,000 people went on the haj. In comparison, over
201,000 undertook the pilgrimage in 1998.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs recently signed an agreement
with national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia and Saudi Arabian
Airlines as the two airlines flying pilgrims there and back.

Under the agreement the airfare was set at about $1,200 per
person.

Saudi Arabian Airlines will serve those flying out of Jakarta
and Surabaya. While Garuda will fly to and from all seven
embarkation points.

Pilgrims will be divided into several batches and fly
according to the scheduled batch timetable.

As many as 119 groups will fly out of Makassar, 105 from
Jakarta, 89 from Surabaya, 48 from Surakarta, Medan and
Balikpapan each with 32 and Aceh with 11.

The last batch is scheduled to leave Indonesia on March 10.

Pilgrims will begin to return on March 21 with arrivals
through to April 15. (04)