SEPANG, March 7 — Three travel agencies have merged under a single consortium known as One Umrah to facilitate the repatriation of Umrah pilgrims stranded following the closure of partial airspace in the Middle East due to the conflict involving the United States (US), Israel, and Iran.
The Director of Safarbuddies Travel and Services Sdn Bhd, Mohd Fadzrull Bakri, said that the consortium involves Safarbuddies Travel and Services, UHR Travel, and Jawahir Travel and Tours, each playing a specific role in pilgrim management.
He explained that Safarbuddies is responsible for operations, including on-ground management in Saudi Arabia and flight bookings, while Aljawahir focuses on marketing and UHR Travel provides guidance and briefing 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 told Bernama at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here last night.
According to him, the group was originally scheduled to return to Malaysia on March 2; however, their flights were affected by the airspace closure, forcing the agencies to reschedule their journey home.
“From early morning, we started looking for replacement flights, trying to fit pilgrims into any available vacancies. Actually, we had tickets for March 4 yesterday, but the Emirates flight was cancelled at the last minute,” he said.
Mohd Fadzrull noted that as a result, pilgrims in Madinah had to be moved to Jeddah before successfully boarding a flight home last night.
A total of 25 pilgrims accompanied by a mutawif (guide) returned home tonight, while three others chose to purchase their own tickets and return via separate flights.
Meanwhile, 70-year-old pilgrim Abdul Rahman Ramli, a retired Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) lecturer, said the situation throughout the period they were stranded remained under control, and pilgrims stayed calm despite being forced to extend their stay in Saudi Arabia.
“We all seemed calm. 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.
The group was supposed to return on March 2 after performing the Umrah pilgrimage for 16 days, but the duration was extended by three days due to flight disruptions.
His wife, Paridah Romly, 67, a retired teacher, said that although they had to check in and out of hotels several times while waiting for flight confirmations, 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 despite the ongoing regional conflict.
Earlier, the group of pilgrims arrived safely at KLIA Terminal 1 at 10:09 pm tonight via Emirates flight EK342 after being stranded since Feb 28, when several countries closed their respective airspaces following the Middle East conflict.
It is understood that they are the second group to successfully return home after seven days of airspace closures.
A wave of US and Israeli attacks on Iran late last month, along with Tehran’s retaliatory strikes against US military bases in the region, forced a large portion of Middle Eastern airspace to close, affecting flights worldwide.
At least eight countries announced the closure of their respective airspaces, including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). — Bernama
