Tangerang. Indonesia will begin its large-scale annual Hajj deployment on Wednesday, sending around 221,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the 2026 pilgrimage season.

The first outbound flight is scheduled to depart from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, carrying 393 pilgrims in a ceremony expected to be attended by President Prabowo Subianto, a government official said on Monday.

Indonesia’s busiest airport has deployed 110 personnel dedicated to serving Hajj pilgrims, including assistance for elderly passengers and people with disabilities, accommodation support, immigration processing, health checks, and other operational services.

Pilgrims awaiting departure schedules are being housed at nearby dormitory facilities to prevent delays and streamline flight operations.

Ahmad Muafiq, head of the Banten provincial Hajj dormitory management office, said the Cipondoh Hajj Dormitory has prepared 215 rooms with capacity for up to 860 pilgrims, equivalent to passengers on two wide-body aircraft flights.

The first group of pilgrims, all residents of Tangerang, will arrive and stay at the dormitory one day before departure.

“God willing, the official send-off will be conducted by the President at 2:20 p.m. at Soekarno-Hatta Airport,” Ahmad said.

From Banten province alone, 9,200 pilgrims will depart on 24 flights. Soekarno-Hatta Airport will also serve pilgrims from Jakarta, West Java, and several other provinces.

State-owned airport operator InJourney Airports has designated 14 international airports nationwide to handle direct Hajj departures, along with five transit airports serving regions without international flight access.

“The operational readiness of airport facilities and personnel to ensure aircraft movements and pilgrim flows at all departure and transit airports is in place, while coordination with all related parties continues,” InJourney Airports President Director Mohammad Pahlevi said on Sunday.

The airports are expected to handle departures for 205,333 pilgrims under the regular Hajj program starting Wednesday. Thousands more pilgrims will depart under arrangements by private travel agencies.

Pahlevi said critical infrastructure, including runways, taxiways, and aprons, had been prepared to support wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 used for Hajj services.

Yogyakarta International Airport will, for the first time, operate direct Hajj flights to Saudi Arabia.

Other departure airports include Juanda International Airport, Adi Soemarmo Airport, Kertajati International Airport, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Hang Nadim Airport, Syamsudin Noor Airport, Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport, Kualanamu International Airport, SAMS Sepinggan Airport, Zainuddin Abdul Madjid International Airport, Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport, and Minangkabau International Airport.

Mecca Route Services
Four airports -- Sultan Hasanuddin, Soekarno-Hatta, Juanda, and Adi Soemarmo -- will offer the Mecca Route program, allowing Saudi immigration officials to process passports and travel documents in Indonesia before departure.

The arrangement is designed to speed arrivals in Jeddah or Madinah.

“Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar is providing Mecca Route services for the first time,” Pahlevi said.

Aviation analyst Gatot Rahardjo said the Mecca Route program is important for reducing immigration processing times and should be expanded to more Indonesian airports.

He added that the service is particularly valuable given the large number of elderly pilgrims, who should not be burdened by lengthy administrative procedures after arrival.

This year’s Hajj season also comes amid rising global oil prices linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, pushing up aviation fuel costs.

President Prabowo has said the government will absorb the gap between pilgrims’ payments and higher airline operating costs caused by fuel price increases.

The additional burden is estimated at Rp 1.7 trillion ($99 million), including Rp 974.8 billion for Garuda Indonesia and Rp 802.8 billion for Saudia.