Yemen completes preparations for hajj season

Yemen's Ministry of Endowments and Guidance has completed preparations for this year's hajj season in record time, a top ministry official said.

"The Yemeni hajj mission is the first in the Islamic world to complete the preparations for this season," minister of endowments and guidance Ahmad Attiyah told Al-Mashareq.

This means "the service packages have been locked in for about 24,000 Yemeni pilgrims from all regions of Yemen", he said.

Preparations for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca have been achieved in "record time and amid the war circumstances and complex situation Yemen is currently facing", Attiyah added.

The ministry's Hajj and Umrah Affairs Department had set March 8th as the opening date for pilgrims who wish to perform hajj to register, via the 151 agencies approved by the ministry to transport Yemeni pilgrims.

The ministry set the hajj fees at 6,700 Saudi riyals ($1,783), a price that includes all food, services and accommodation for 15 days, with the fee for round-trip transportation and transportation within Saudi Arabia set at 1,400 riyals ($370).

Raising the level of services

The ministry has taken new measures to improve hajj conditions this year, said assistant deputy minister of religious endowments and guidance Tariq al-Qurashi.

"We raised the level of services offered to pilgrims in the areas of transportation, accommodation and food," he told Al-Mashareq.

"With regard to the transportation of pilgrims, the terms of the contract were improved, and the service was restricted to companies that own modern transport buses," he said.

The transport process has been integrated, he said, with the same companies that transport the pilgrims from Yemen handling all transportation in the holy places, between Mecca and Medina, and back to Yemen.

"We improved accommodation conditions and increased the period of accommodation the agencies are responsible for from seven to 15 days," al-Qurashi said.

"We contracted with eight kitchens with high quality standards, capacities and capabilities to provide meals and sustenance to the pilgrims for 15 days, with catering kitchens providing cash guarantees to ensure quality of service," he added.

First tier seats available

"Registration for the economy tier sold out about two months ago, capping at 23,900 pilgrims," said Fatima al-Hadrami, who is in charge of sales at al-Hadrami Hajj and Umrah Agency.

Seats remain available in the first tier, however, due to the increase in the first tier seat cost to 12,000 Saudi riyals ($3,200), she told Al-Mashareq.

"The distinguished accommodation service [for first tier seats], at only 300 metres away from the Haram (holy shrine), is the main difference between the first tier and economy tier seats," she said.