Hajj travellers unable to fly due to ticket delay

Image source, Getty Images

Some British Muslims have been unable to board a flight because of problems with a new Saudi registration system.

The Council of British Hajjis said that a group of people were told they couldn't fly on a Saudia plane at Manchester Airport on Saturday due to e-tickets not being issued in time.

They returned home as they waited to hear if flights could be changed.

The Saudi Embassy has yet to respond.

Muslims from Europe, North America and Australia must register in order to take part in this year's pilgrimage, which starts in July.

Some people who had previously booked with separate operators were concerned they could lose money when they received booking confirmations for the first time.

Many pilgrims save for a long time, but the cost of travelling to the UK can be high.

The chair of the Council of British Hajjis (CBHUK) said Saudia staff at Manchester had been very helpful but it was "heart-breaking" to see some people unable to board the plane.

He said that about 250 people were able to leave the country.

• It is an annual pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites in and around Mecca, where Prophet Muhammad was born
• Pilgrims imitate the rites of his ancestral predecessor Abraham - believed by Muslims to have built the cubic shrine known as the Kaaba - and his family
• Hajj is one of the five key pillars of the Islamic faith and is compulsory for any adult Muslim who is physically and financially eligible
• Many Muslims also perform a shorter Umrah pilgrimage, which - unlike the Hajj - is optional and can happen throughout the year

Some people who applied to travel this year have said that they got conflicting messages.

After being unable to fly from Manchester on Saturday, Ali and his wife decided to go back to their home in South Yorkshire.

He said they had received booking and visa confirmations in the past week, but they weren't email.

He spoke to a representative from the airport, but said it was "astonishing how incompetent they were".

The organisation apologized and said it would rearrange some flights because of high demand.

They are kind of unanswerable to us.

It would be impossible for a UK company to do this. The whole process has been poorly run.

It was aware of problems in a number of cases and was attempting to contact those affected within 72 hours.

The organisation has been contacted by the radio station.

British and other Western pilgrims used to be able to book through Saudi agents.

The new system was part of Saudi Arabia's strategy to centralise and simplify packages sales according to Prof Sean McLoughlin.

The kingdom will host a million pilgrims this year in order to accommodate foreign visitors for the first time since the coronaviruses epidemic.

The allocation of Hajj visas to the UK is not clear. The figures ranged from 3000 to 12,000.

The previous system was sometimes exploited by fraudsters, but the best agents wanted to make it easier for pilgrims.

"Motawif's failed miserably as it's come far too late and it hasn't proved as flexible or competitively priced as first claimed."

They don't seem to have the capacity to deliver and their technical system has let them down badly.

People were turning up at airports and being told they couldn't travel.

Some people are concerned that their booking may not be fulfilled.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Hajj and Umrah had called on the Saudi government to delay the new system.

She asked the Hajj minister if refunds would be given.

The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office is aware that not all problems have been solved and is still looking for information.

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