Improvements made to ensure smooth Hajj flights

[ad_1]

Jakarta(ANTARA) –
This year, Hajj flights have encountered technical and operational obstacles on several occasions, resulting in flight delays and changes.

There are many reasons why many flights are delayed, such as extreme temperatures in Saudi Arabia that degrade aircraft performance, limited aircraft availability, and congestion at the country’s airports.

So far, Garuda Indonesia is the only Indonesian airline that has signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Religious Affairs to provide Hajj flights. This year, Garuda Indonesia is responsible for transporting 109,072 pilgrims.

Saudi Arabian Airlines is another airline permitted to carry Indonesian pilgrims.

Earlier in July, Garuda Indonesia president Irfan Setiaputra said that this year’s Hajj flights were challenging, and for the first time during the three-month Hajj, Garuda Indonesia reduced the use of its own aircraft and instead leased additional aircraft.

During this year’s Hajj, Garuda Indonesia operated a fleet of 14 aircraft, of which 6 were owned and 8 were leased, including B777-300, A330-300, A340-300, B747-400 and B777-300.

The eight leased aircraft have passed a series of airworthiness tests by the Ministry of Transport. Setiaputra said several of the leased aircraft, such as the 23-year-old Boeing B747-400 and the twin-engine Airbus A340-300 series, are no longer used in the transport sector. Passenger transport services.

However, these aircraft were chosen for Hajj transport because they have a minimum capacity of 360 passengers, which meets the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ standard of a minimum capacity of 360 passengers per flight crew.

That presents a challenge because the wide-body aircraft used by airlines around the world for long-haul flights are rarely configured with an all-economy cabin. Planes typically have business-class and first-class seating.

Hajj flights have also become increasingly complicated due to the limited number of high-capacity aircraft. In addition, the Hajj season coincides with the European summer vacation, which drives up demand for flights to Europe and makes it difficult for Garuda Indonesia to obtain additional aircraft to charter for Hajj flights.

In addition, the aircraft procurement process was long, taking more than seven months and involving nine tenders, which was one of the reasons why Garuda Indonesia was slow to submit its flight plan to the Saudi authorities.

Before the pilgrims departed, Setiaputra revealed that 46 of the 81 flight batches originally scheduled for Indonesian pilgrims did not match the initial plan because Garuda Indonesia failed to obtain flight slots at the airport.

As a result, 46 groups of pilgrims originally scheduled to depart from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah were diverted to Medina Airport to return to Indonesia. This change means that the pilgrims’ land journey will be significantly longer.

“We submitted (the aircraft type) very late. When we applied for the time slot, the Saudi authorities asked for the aircraft type and we had not yet completed the leasing process. So when we applied, it was already late and (the aircraft type) was already occupied by someone else,” he explained.

However, Garuda Indonesia covered all additional costs incurred due to the delay, including hotels, transportation and meals.

Flight delays are also caused by the limited flight time of the crew. The crew has flight time regulations that cannot be violated to ensure flight safety.

To prevent flight disruptions due to aircraft engine failure, Garuda Indonesia has also prepared three scheduled aircraft as backup aircraft to serve pilgrims going for the Hajj.

However, this caused delays to around 200 regular flights.

“Nevertheless, I guarantee that everything has been resolved now so that no more pilgrims’ places will be diverted. Those who are supposed to return (to Indonesia) from Jeddah will return from Jeddah. Similarly, those who are supposed to return from Medina will return from Medina,” he affirmed.

According to Garuda Indonesia, 80% of the airline’s Hajj flights departed on time this year. Of all flights, 32% were on time, 21% were delayed and 47% departed early.

Overall, 86% of delays were due to operational factors and 14% were due to aircraft technical factors.

As for the return leg, data as of July 3, 2024 showed that the airline had an on-time performance of 71%, with 44% of flights arriving on time, 29% delayed and 28% departing early.

Of the total delays, 4% were due to aircraft reasons, while 96% were due to operational and service reasons in Saudi Arabia, such as the handling of elderly and sick pilgrims who require special treatment, and the increase in the number of pilgrims, which the additional capacity of Jeddah Airport was insufficient to cope with, resulting in crowds in multiple areas such as departure and arrival gates.

Flight delays were the most prominent issue and the most complaints during the 2024 Hajj departure period. The third group of pilgrims was delayed by 12 hours and 30 minutes at the Kualanamu embarkation point.

Another incident occurred on flight GA-1105 from Makassar to Medina with 450 passengers on board. The aircraft had to return to its departure airport due to a fire.

In response, House of Representatives Commission VI (DPR) member Evita Nursanty urged Garuda Indonesia to implement an emergency plan for next year’s Hajj flights.

This can help prevent mistakes that are repeated every year.

Nusanti suggested that if Garuda Indonesia does not have enough aircraft, other airlines should be given the opportunity to support Hajj flights in 2025.

She noted that delays were the biggest complaint among pilgrims.

She expressed hope that Garuda Indonesia would be able to use the remaining time of the return phase of the Hajj, which is until the end of July, to improve its services and ensure that there would be no more delays or complaints from pilgrims.

Meanwhile, another member of the Sixth Committee of the People’s Congress, Mohamad Hekal, questioned the root cause of the delays in Hajj flights. He asked whether the delays were due to technical problems with the aircraft, mismanagement by Garuda Indonesia or inefficiency of the Saudi authorities.

A comprehensive assessment of factors leading to Hajj flight delays, such as aircraft conditions, operational management, coordination with airports, etc., is needed to determine the root causes.

In addition to the best possible planning, long-term solutions need to be developed to address flight delays, such as procuring more suitable aircraft, so that pilgrims can carry out the pilgrimage smoothly.

[ad_2]

Source link