📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Vyacheslav Argenberg
Religion
600 Karnataka Umrah pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia after flight cancellations
✍️ The Indian Express
🗓 24 Oct 2026, 02:38 AM
👁 12
Around 600 pilgrims from Karnataka on Umrah trips are stuck in Saudi Arabia after several flights were cancelled, leaving them without immediate return options.
Around six hundred pilgrims from Karnataka who had travelled to Saudi Arabia for Umrah are currently stranded after a series of flight cancellations left them without a scheduled return. The cancellations, reported by local sources, affected both direct and connecting services, causing a backlog at the airports.
The affected pilgrims are awaiting alternative arrangements from travel operators and the Indian embassy, which is coordinating with Saudi authorities to secure seats on subsequent flights. Officials have advised the travelers to remain patient while they work on repatriation plans.
Airlines have not provided a definitive timeline for when the cancelled flights will resume, and many pilgrims are facing logistical challenges, including accommodation and meals, as they remain in Saudi cities awaiting transport.
The incident highlights the vulnerability of religious travel groups to sudden disruptions and underscores the need for contingency measures during peak pilgrimage periods.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has been briefed, and consular officials are expected to issue further guidance to the stranded group in the coming hours.
The affected pilgrims are awaiting alternative arrangements from travel operators and the Indian embassy, which is coordinating with Saudi authorities to secure seats on subsequent flights. Officials have advised the travelers to remain patient while they work on repatriation plans.
Airlines have not provided a definitive timeline for when the cancelled flights will resume, and many pilgrims are facing logistical challenges, including accommodation and meals, as they remain in Saudi cities awaiting transport.
The incident highlights the vulnerability of religious travel groups to sudden disruptions and underscores the need for contingency measures during peak pilgrimage periods.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has been briefed, and consular officials are expected to issue further guidance to the stranded group in the coming hours.