This was revealed at a press briefing session held under the auspices of Sultan bin Saeed al Hinai, Head of Omani Haj Mission at the Sultan Qaboos University on Tuesday .
Omanis, Arabs and non-Arabs:
Out of the 14,000, 250 are Arab residents while the remaining 250 are non-Arab residents and as many as 700 opportunities were allocated to serve them for Haj and Umrah companies, at a rate of 5 percent of the number of pilgrims for each company.
Haj for executing a will:
The indicators of the electronic system for the pilgrims of the Sultanate of Oman prove that 99 percent, with a number of 13,855 pilgrims, have completed all requirements for travel to the Holy Land, compared to 1percent who are undergoing a medical examination, and the indicators show that 86.9per cent of the obligatory pilgrims, and 1.8 per cent of the pilgrims executing a will on behalf of a deceased, 1.8per cent of the pilgrims on behalf of the incapacitated, and 9.5per cent of the voluntary pilgrims who are female relatives or companions, and women constituted 49.3per cent of the total pilgrims compared to 50.7per cent men.
Age categories:
In order to qualify for Haj, the age group was from 30-45 with a rate of 43 percent, then the group from 46-60 with a rate of 35.1per cent, then the group over 60 with a rate of 16.6per cent, and finally the category from 18-30 with a rate of 5.3per cent.
Number of pilgrims aged 40’s is the most deserving at a rate of 506 pilgrims, while the eldest of the deserving is 94 years old among five pilgrims who reached the age of ninety, and the youngest are the deserving pilgrims at the age of 18 years.
Mode of transport to the holy cities:
58.5per cent of the people preferred air travel to the holy land, an increase of 3.5per cent from the 1443 season compared to 41.5per cent by land, and the air route to Medina - Makkah Al-Mukarramah was the highest contracted with a rate of 30.2per cent.
However, the people preferring land transport to Medina - Makkah Al-Mukarramah reached 28.6per cent, then the air route to Jeddah - Makkah Al-Mukarramah with a rate of 28.3per cent, and finally the land route to Makkah Al-Mukarramah increased by 12.9per cent.
Cost:
While the average cost of Haj by air was 2054 Omani riyals, compared to 2221 Omani riyals in 1443, a decrease of 7.5per cent. The total contracts of pilgrims with Hajj companies amounted to 24,191,480 Omani riyals.
Cancellation:
13.6per cent of the people either canceled or apologized or did not complete the procedures after the eligibility for Hajj, as the cancellation cases reached 2657 cases, which is a high percentage in recent times. Dhofar topped the rest of the governorates in the number of cancellations, with 669 cases, followed by the Governorate of Muscat, with 573 cases.
“Those wishing to perform Hajj should adhere to the rules for granting e-entitlement to arrange Hajj priorities, and take necessary vaccinations and proper nutrition. The mission seriously warns all citizens and expatriates wishing to perform Hajj who have not registered in the electronic system or registered and have not been given the opportunity not to join fake campaigns that are not registered and approved in the electronic system,” he added.
He further said that one should not, at any cost, contract a fake company or secure forged documents which will result in detention by the security officials at the entry point and will be charged with legal and financial violations, and are subjected to accountability and financial fines.
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