Garuda Indonesia To Fly 83,144 Hajj Pilgrims

Jakarta, Sept 1 (Antara) Indonesia`s national carrier Garuda Indonesia will fly 83,144 pilgrims during the Hajj season of 1435 Hijri or 2014 AD via ten points of departure over two phases, a spokesperson said here Monday. The number of pilgrims this year is less than the 90,108 pilgrims who travelled in 2013, Vice President of Communication Garuda Indonesia Pujobroto added. He explained that the 83,144 Indonesian pilgrims have been divided into 207 groups that will leave from 10 points of departure. These ten points of departure are Aceh, from where 3,175 pilgrims will leave in seven groups; Medan, North Sumatra, from where 6,663 pilgrims will leave in 16 groups; Padang, West Sumatra which has 5959 pilgrims in 13 groups; Jakarta which has 10,814 pilgrims in 24 groups; Solo, Central Java, which has 26,546 pilgrims in 71 groups; Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, which has 3,651 pilgrims in 11 groups; Makassar, South Sulawesi, which has 11,972 pilgrims in 27 groups; Palembang, South Sumatra, which has 5,885 pilgrims in 13 groups; Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, which has 4,195 pilgrims in 13 groups; and Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, which has 4,284 pilgrims in 12 groups. For this Hajj season, Garuda will operate 11 wide-bodied aircraft comprising six 375-seater Airbus A330s; four 455-seater B747s and one 440-seater B777 aircraft. The planes are relatively new, with some dating to 2012. Pujobroto added that Garuda Indonesia has assigned 484 cabin crew members, 70 percent of them being recruited from the above-mentioned points of departure. This is part of Garuda Indonesia`s service for the pilgrims, aimed at handling communication problems, as most of the pilgrims speak local languages. Indonesia`s Hajj quota this year is 168,800 people, comprising the regular Hajj quota of 155,200 and the special Hajj quota of 13,600 pilgrims. Besides Garuda Indonesia, Saudi Arabian Airlines will also carry 70,000 pilgrims from Batam, Riau Island, Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java.