Haj 2023: Saudi Arabia announces largest operational plan for this year's pilgrimage

With Haj season just a few weeks away, Saudi Arabia has laid out the "largest operational plan" in the history of the presidency, after the end of the Covid pandemic.

The General President of the Affairs of the Grand Holy Mosque and Prophet's Holy Mosque Sheikh Dr Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al Sudais detailed the extensive plan on Thursday, SPA reported.

The plan focuses on several main axes related to the strategic goals of the Presidency 2024 based on the Saudi Vision 2030.

In his opening speech at the media forum, Al Sudais said: "The operational plan for this year's Haj season is the largest in the history of the presidency, after the end of the [coronavirus] pandemic and the announcement of the return of Hajj pilgrims in the millions, per an integrated system of services prepared by the wise leadership."

This plan, he said, is an extension of the outstanding successes and long-term achievements that were laid down by the directives of the wise government led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the Crown Prince, who closely follow all the services provided to the pilgrims.

In volunteering and humanitarian work, he said the presidency provided more than 8,000 volunteer opportunities in the Two Holy Mosques across 10 fields and more than 200,000 volunteer hours during the Haj season.

He stressed that the presidency will provide translation services, spatial guidance, and roll out information for pilgrims in 51 international languages across 49 stations.