The head of the 2024 Indonesian House of Representatives Hajj Supervisory Team has said that more airlines may be able to offer Hajj flights in the future. Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar told a July 1 media conference in Jakarta that he would like to open up the market out of Jakarta, currently restricted to Garuda Indonesia (GA, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) and Saudia (SV, Jeddah International), "so that there is no monopoly and the service is more competitive."
Several committees will examine problems with the Hajj flights this year, he said, including delays, allegations of visa buying and selling, and aircraft swaps to smaller types that resulted in the breaking up of pilgrim groups. Last week, Garuda CEO Irfan Setiaputra said limitations at Saudi airports had necessitated changes to 46 flights this Hajj season but added that the airline was working with local authorities to "smooth things out" and minimise disruptions for travellers.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and Hajj flights are big business. This year, Garuda Indonesia wet-leased at least seven aircraft specifically tasked to Hajj ops, including an A340-300 from Legend Airlines (Romania); an A330-300 from Thai AirAsia X; an A330-300 from World2Fly (Portugal); two B747-400s from Terra Avia; an A330-300 from SM Executive Aviation; and a B777-200ER from Eastern Airlines. Over the pilgrimage season, Garuda planned to carry around 109,000 passengers across 282 flights from various airports around Jakarta.
In the week July 8-14 inclusive, ch-aviation capacities data indicates the two airlines have a combined 42,364 seats on the country pair. The flights are now heavily skewed towards return services to Indonesia (29,453 seats or 69.5%). Of those flights, Saudia is providing 22,272 seats, or 77.32% of the total. Flights to Saudi Arabia are far more evenly matched. Of the 12,911 seats available, 6,681 (or 51.75%) are provided by Garuda and 6,230 (48.25%) are provided by Saudia.
