SEPANG: Three travel agencies have merged under a single consortium known as One Umrah to facilitate the repatriation of umrah pilgrims who were stranded following the closure of airspace in the Middle East due to the United States-Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
Safarbuddies Travel and Services Sdn Bhd director Mohd Fadzrull Bakri said the consortium comprised Safarbuddies Travel and Services, UHR Travel, and Jawahir Travel and Tours with each playing a specific role in pilgrim management.
He explained that Safarbuddies was responsible for operations, including on-ground management in Saudi Arabia and flight bookings, while Jawahir focused on marketing and UHR Travel provided guidance and briefings to the pilgrims.
“When something like this happens, we merge everything so that no pilgrims feel sidelined. We use one name, One Umrah, so that all arrangements can be coordinated,” he said at the KL International Airport (KLIA) here on Friday night, Bernama reported.
The group was originally scheduled to return to Malaysia on March 2 but their flights were affected by the airspace closure, forcing the agencies to reschedule their journey home, he said.
“From early morning, we started looking for replacement flights, trying to fit pilgrims into any available slots.
“Actually, we had tickets for March 4, but the Emirates flight was cancelled at the last minute.”
As a result, pilgrims in Madinah had to be moved to Jeddah where they successfully boarded a flight home last night, he said.
A total of 25 pilgrims accompanied by a mutawif (guide) arrived safely at KLIA Terminal 1 at 10.09pm on Friday night via Emirates flight EK342 after being stranded since Feb 28.
It is understood that they are the second group to successfully return home.
One of the pilgrims, Abdul Rahman Ramli, 70, a retired Universiti Putra Malaysia lecturer, said the situation throughout the period they were stranded remained under control, and they stayed calm despite being forced to extend their stay in Saudi Arabia.
“Throughout our stay at the hotel, we just moved rooms and waited for news regarding the flights. Alhamdulillah, we finally made it home,” he said.
His wife, Paridah Romly, 67, a retired teacher, said although they had to check in and out of hotels several times while waiting for flight confirmation, all arrangements including accommodation and food were well managed by the agencies.
“It was quite tiring because we had to move in and out of hotels while waiting for flights to be confirmed, but everything went smoothly and we could still perform our prayers as usual,” she said, adding that the situation in Madinah remained stable and peaceful.
