President inaugurates Makkah Route Initiative

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed have today inaugurated the Makkah Route Initiative.

The ceremony held at Velana International Airport was also attended by Makkah Route Initiative Committee's Chairman and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister's Advisor Lieutenant General Sulaiman bin Abdulaziz Al-Yahya.

Senior delegates from Saudi Arabia's ministries also participated in the ceremony.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that inclusion in the Makkah Route Initiative comes after many conditions are met. Saudi Arabia generally allows inclusion if over 20,000 pilgrims from the country attend Hajj at a time. However, the country offered the opportunity to Maldives despite not reaching these numbers without any additional agreements, the Minister said.

After launching the Makkah Route Initiative, passports were handed over to four pilgrims at today's ceremony.

Minister Shaheem said that with inclusion in this initiative, Maldives' pilgrims will no longer need to stay at the Jeddah Airport to have their passports stamped or to collect luggage. They can go straight to the hotel, where the luggage will also be delivered to them.