The first batch of 310 Malaysian pilgrims left today on the first flight home aboard Saudi Arabian Airlines at 7am Jeddah time.

Tabung Haji operations manager Abdul Karim Samad said the pilgrims would arrive at the KL International Airport (KLIA) at 9.15pm (Malaysian time) today.

They were at the Tabung Haji hostel, Madinahtul Hujaj in Jeddah for a 24-hour transit process after arriving from their hostels in Mecca.  

“Here, Tabung Haji officials handled their baggage, passport and flight ticket formalities while the pilgrims rested,” he told Bernama .  

He said the flights to Johor Baru would start on Nov 3; Penang and Kuala Terengganu, Nov 12; Kuching, Nov 13 and Kota Kinabalu, Nov 15.  

All the 28,000 Malaysian pilgrims would return home in stages but 56 percent would stop at Medina for a visit from Nov 6, he said.  

The pilgrims would be in Medina for eight days. The last flight home for the pilgrims from the holy land would be on Nov 28.

Meanwhile, a check by Bernama found the Malaysian pilgrims at Madinahtul Hujaj to be healthy and eager to return after being in the holy land for more than 40 days.  

- Bernama