Pilgrims to arrive home Sunday

JAKARTA: The first Indonesian haj pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia are expected to arrive in the country on Sunday, a haj services spokesman, Tulus, said on Friday.

The first batch is to arrive at Hasanuddin Airport in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar at 5 a.m. local time on board Garuda Indonesia GA 1301.

Another group is expected to land at Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport in Banda Aceh, at 9:15 a.m. local time.

The first returnees from North Sumatra will arrive at 1:15 p.m. at Polonia Airport, Medan, while in Jakarta the first group of pilgrims will touch down at Soekarno-Hatta Airport at 6 a.m.

Other returning pilgrims will land in the Central Java town of Surakarta and the East Kalimantan town of Balikpapan. --Antara