Saudi to Allocate 2.5 Million Airline Seats for Umrah by End of 2025

Saudi Arabia has announced plans to allocate a total of 2.5 million airline seats for Umrah pilgrims by the end of 2025, with over 700,000 seats already utilised during the first quarter of the year. The initiative is part of a broader strategy to enhance air connectivity to the Kingdom’s key pilgrimage cities, including Madinah and Jeddah, and to streamline travel for visitors from across the globe.

The expansion was unveiled during the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum, held in Madinah from April 14th to the 16th, which brought together 150 exhibitors representing over 100 countries. The event focused on infrastructure, travel technologies, and Madinah’s historical significance.

So far in 2025, 12 airlines have joined the Kingdom’s air connectivity programme, introducing 20 new international routes and adding 1.5 million seats to the network. Participating carriers include ITA Airways, British Airways, Wizz Air, and Eurowings.

Several of the new connections focus on Europe. Germany’s Stuttgart has been added to the growing list of cities with direct flights to Jeddah, alongside Berlin and Cologne. Transavia, the France-based carrier, will soon operate flights from Paris and Lyon. In the United Kingdom, daily flights from London’s Gatwick Airport to Madinah are scheduled to begin in August, contributing 180,000 seats to the Umrah travel system.

The expansion reflects Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to facilitate religious tourism and improve access to holy sites as part of Vision 2030, which seeks to increase the number of annual Umrah visitors to 30 million.