Holiday Ayo - People from West Java and its surroundings who wish to perform Umrah can now depart with Garuda Indonesia from Kertajati Airport in Majalengka Regency.

The first Umrah flight with Garuda Indonesia from Kertajati Airport was carried out on Sunday (20/11/2022) which carried 224 pilgrims. Previously, Garuda Indonesia's first scheduled flight was postponed from 7 November 2022.

"Yes, today it is being served after all the preparations from various parties. We will see the potential first," said Garuda Indonesia Main Director Irfan Setiaputra as quoted from ekonomi.binis.com, Sunday (20/11).

This flight service is also a form of Garuda Indonesia's support for the Government's initiative to maximize the operational capacity of Kertajati International Airport as a provider of international standard airport services in the West Java region in order to provide comfortable airport services, especially for prospective Umrah pilgrims.

Irfan understands that the pilgrimage is an important moment that is always awaited by prospective pilgrims, especially since the momentum of the recovery of Umrah flights has been long awaited by the public after all this time the Government of Saudi Arabia has limited the number of visiting pilgrims due to the pandemic.

This direct flight service from Kertajati airport to the Holy Land can accommodate the needs of the people of West Java and its surroundings for umrah to go to worship in the Holy Land.

The Umrah flight from Kertajati is initially served by charter flights via flight GA 902 which departs from Kertajati International Airport at 13.45 WIB and is planned to arrive at King Abdul Aziz Airport, Jeddah at 20.00 LT.

In line with the recovery momentum for Umrah flights which is also aligned with the optimization of production capacity which the company continues to strengthen, currently Garuda Indonesia serves at least 19 flights per week, consisting of: 17 flights from Jakarta and Kertajati, 1 (one) flight from Surabaya, and 1 (one) flight from Makassar.

Irfan estimates that as one of the countries with the largest number of Muslims in the world, of course flight services to the Holy Land will be one of the focuses of developing an international flight network which we will continue to optimize.

"In the future, we will re-map the flight network that is the people's preference, including through the expansion of the Umrah flight network in various major cities in Indonesia," said Irfan.