Rano Karno's Return from Umrah Amid Iran–Israel Conflict, Passenger Pays Rp28 Million for a Taxi

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Deputy Governor of Jakarta, Rano Karno, recounted his experience returning to Jakarta from Saudi Arabia after completing the Umrah pilgrimage, on Wednesday (4 March 2026). He said that at the time there was a passenger who was prepared to spend tens of millions of rupiah on a taxi from Doha to Riyadh in order to be able to fly back to Jakarta due to flight disruptions caused by the conflict between Iran, the United States (US) and Israel. ‘There was one person, he travelled from Doha by taxi to Riyadh; the taxi fare was almost Rp 28 million, and then he boarded a Garuda aircraft,’ said Pramono when asked at the Jakarta City Hall, Thursday (5 March 2026). He stated that flights with routes transiting through Qatar and Abu Dhabi were halted. The situation left tens of thousands of Umrah pilgrims stranded and unable to return to Indonesia. ‘This means yesterday more than 38,000 of our pilgrims could not return, waiting,’ he said. Still, Rano assured that direct flights from Saudi Arabia to Jakarta were still operating and relatively unaffected. He himself returned to Jakarta last Wednesday after performing Umrah since 23 February 2026. ‘As for the direct services to Jakarta, there are three aircraft. First, Saudi direct, then the second is Lion Air direct, and finally Garuda,’ Rano said. ‘God willing, Mecca and Medina are relatively safe, no problems. But we hope that the fighting can end soon,’ he added. He hopes the conflict will soon subside so that international flight operations return to normal and pilgrims can travel without obstruction.