Saudi Arabia ready to accept arrival of 30 million haj and umrah pilgrims by 2030

KUALA LUMPUR - The Saudi Arabian government has announced several initiatives and strategies to strengthen its transportation system and logistics services in preparation for receiving up to 30 million pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah each year by 2030.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Transport and Logistic Services, through an infographic on Twitter on Friday, listed several targeted projects to receive the pilgrims, including developing a connectivity index between domestic and major world airports by offering access to 250 more international flight destinations.

Apart from that, the Ministry will also focus on increasing the operational capacity of the Al Haramain ‘Bullet Train’ as well as traffic flow at domestic ports.

Meanwhile, Saudi Press Agency (SPA), citing the same ministry, reported that the empowerment strategy framework had been outlined by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the details were presented by ministry representatives during the recent International Conference on Hajj and Umrah Services.

According to SPA, the Saudi Arabian government is currently in the process of increasing the capacity of the Madinah-Makkah Highway, one of the main and busiest road network facilities connecting the provinces of Makkah and Madinah.

"The highway, which is 397.3 kilometres (km) long and crosses more than 33 cities, and settlements, is equipped with 231 bridges and connected with more than 20 levels of highway intersectons", reported SPA. - BERNAMA