Tourism10 May, 20263 min read
Syrian Pilgrims Depart Damascus Airport for Jeddah on First Hajj Flights
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First Syrian Hajj flights departed Damascus International Airport carrying 340 pilgrims. About 21,900 Syrian pilgrims will travel through Damascus and Aleppo airports.
First Hajj flights depart
Hundreds of Syrian pilgrims departed Damascus International Airport for Saudi Arabia as authorities began operating flights for the Hajj season, with two flights leaving from Damascus for Jeddah carrying 680 Syrian pilgrims, according to the Syrian Civil Aviation Authority. Arab News said the first flight carrying 340 pilgrims from Syria took off on Saturday, and it reported that about 12,900 pilgrims would travel through Damascus in the coming days while around 9,000 would depart from Aleppo International Airport.
SANA reported that the first flights carrying Syrian pilgrims bound for Jeddah departed from Damascus International Airport with 340 pilgrims on board as part of the pilgrimage convoy plan for the Hajj season 2026/1447. SANA also said the flights would continue until the 21st of the month, and it quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of Awqaf, Ahmad Al-Hallak, saying the procedures focused on informing pilgrims of trip details and ensuring their care and ease of their affairs inside the airport and up to their arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Volunteers, clinics, and coordination
SANA said the launch of the first Hajj flights came after coordination with the Civil Aviation Authority, with volunteers helping pilgrims in various procedures and with staff from the Hajj Management present at Damascus and Jeddah airports to receive pilgrims. The SANA report quoted the supervisor of the Syrian Hajj delegation, Hayan Darwish, describing the presence of teams in hotels designated for pilgrims to provide services and facilitate matters related to their stay.
SANA also detailed health measures, saying a member of the accompanying health mission, Mahmoud Al-Rifai, said the health mission would provide medical clinics in the hotels designated for Syrian pilgrims around the clock to treat ordinary and emergency cases. In addition, SANA quoted Mohammed Awad, a medic with the Syrian Civil Defense, saying that teams from the Emergency and Disaster Directorate mobilized since the early hours of the flights’ departure with medical crews and ambulances to provide any medical assistance to the pilgrims inside the airport and before takeoff.
Numbers and the travel window
Anadolu Ajansı said the first batch of Syrian pilgrims arriving by air to perform this year’s Hajj arrived at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on Saturday, with the pilgrims numbering 340 and being received on arrival by the acting head of the Syrian embassy in Saudi Arabia, Mohsen Mahbash, according to SANA. Anadolu Ajansı reported that SANA quoted Minister of Awqaf Mohammad Abu al-Khair Shukri as saying that the number of Syrian pilgrims this year is 22,500, and it said the journeys began on Saturday and would continue until May 21.
Al-Jazeera Net described the departures from Damascus and Aleppo International Airports as part of a deployment plan that continues until May 21 of the current year, and it said the plan includes thousands of Syrian pilgrims departing via several regional airports. Al-Jazeera Net also stated that spokesman for the Ministry of Awqaf Ahmed Al-Hallak said the Haj and Umrah administration adopted a group system to facilitate pilgrims movement, with a focus on accompanying them from entering the airport until their arrival in Saudi Arabia.