Which Airport Do Umrah and Hajj Travellers Land At? A Guide to Jeddah and Madinah Airports

Umrah and Hajj travellers enter Saudi Arabia through two main airports: King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah. Which one you land at depends on whether your programme starts from Makkah or from Madinah. In this guide, we explain the two airports, the Hajj terminal, transport from the airport to the city, the Haramain High Speed Railway connection and where to enter ihram according to the place of landing, with official sources. We covered the departure airports in Türkiye in our article on Umrah flights from Türkiye; this article focuses on the arrival side.

Which Airport Do Umrah and Hajj Travellers Land At?

For groups travelling from Türkiye, there are two points of arrival. In programmes that start with Makkah, the plane lands in Jeddah and the travellers go on to Makkah by road. In programmes that start with Madinah, the plane lands directly in Madinah; a few days later the group goes on to Makkah, and the return is mostly made from Jeddah. On some dates during the season, flights planned via Taif or Yanbu are also seen; their share is very small.

Saudipedia, the official encyclopaedia of Saudi Arabia, states that Jeddah airport receives seventy per cent of the annual Hajj and Umrah travellers, and that Madinah airport comes second after Jeddah in receiving Hajj and Umrah travellers.

The opening, distance and capacity information in the table is taken from the relevant Saudipedia entries.

King Abdulaziz Airport, Jeddah

It lies north of the city of Jeddah, within the boundaries of Makkah Province. According to Saudipedia, it entered service in its first form in 1981, in the reign of King Khalid; its new terminal was opened in 2019 by King Salman. Terminal 1 serves more than thirty million passengers a year and has forty-six gates for domestic and international flights. The airport’s air traffic control tower is one hundred and thirty-six metres high and is referred to as the second-tallest tower in the world.

As the terminal is large, a free internal train runs inside it. Saudipedia presents this train as the first in-airport train in the country: it covers the thousand-metre line between two points in about a minute and a half. You may need to board this train on the way to passport control after landing; following the direction signs is enough.

What is the Hajj Terminal?

At Jeddah airport there is a separate section for Hajj travellers: the Hajj and Umrah Complex, commonly known as the Hajj Terminal. According to the information given by Arab News on the basis of Saudi officials, the complex spreads over an area of five hundred and ten thousand square metres; the arrival and departure halls have the capacity to accommodate a total of one hundred and seventy-five thousand pilgrims at the same time, and there are one hundred and forty-three passport counters inside. The health, passport and customs units serve arriving pilgrims in the same place.

Which terminal the groups coming from Türkiye will land at in the Hajj season is determined by the flight plan; the traveller does not need to choose this. You can find the steps of the Hajj journey in our article on how to perform Hajj, and the documents you will take with you in our article on the documents required for Hajj.

Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Airport, Madinah

Madinah airport is, in Saudipedia’s words, “the air gateway to the Prophet’s Mosque”. Opened in 1950, it is one of the country’s first airports; in 2015 it re-entered service with its new facilities. It covers an area of about four million square metres and has a capacity of about eight million passengers a year. Its distance from Masjid an-Nabawi is about twenty kilometres; the journey takes about twenty-five minutes by three separate routes.

The greatest convenience of landing in Madinah is the short distance: the hotel and Masjid an-Nabawi are reached shortly after leaving the plane, and there is no need to enter ihram straight away. We described the places to see in Madinah in our guide to places to visit in Madinah, and the mosque itself in our article on Masjid an-Nabawi.

What Happens After Landing at the Airport?

1. Passport control When you leave the plane, you are directed to passport and visa control. Keep your passport and visa document in your hand luggage, somewhere easy to reach.
2. Baggage reclaim Collect your baggage from the belt; if you are travelling with a group, the group tag on your suitcase makes the staff’s work easier.
3. Customs After collecting your baggage, you pass through customs control at the exit.
4. Meeting the group In package programmes, the guide gathers the group at the exit and directs it to the bus.
5. Transfer to the hotel The transfer from Jeddah to Makkah, or from Madinah airport to the hotel, is made by road.

In busy periods, especially in the month of Ramadan and in the Hajj season, passport control and baggage reclaim can take a long time. For this reason, it is good not to plan a tight programme for the first day and to take water and a light snack with you. For the visa and entry documents, see our article on how to get an Umrah visa, and for permits and appointments, our article on the Nusuk app.

Transport from the Airport to Makkah and Madinah

For those travelling with a group, transport is by the group’s bus. For those travelling on their own, the most regular option is the Haramain High Speed Railway. According to Saudipedia, the four hundred and fifty kilometre electric line reaches a speed of three hundred kilometres per hour and has five stations: Makkah, Madinah and King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah are the terminal stations; Jeddah city station and King Abdullah Economic City are the intermediate stations. The journey from Jeddah airport to Madinah takes about two hours, and between Makkah and Madinah two hours and forty-five minutes.

Thanks to this connection, a traveller landing in Jeddah can board the train without leaving the airport and go to Makkah or to Madinah. Madinah airport is not among the five stations counted by Saudipedia; a traveller landing in Madinah goes into the city by road. We compared the travel options between the two cities in detail in our article on the distance from Makkah to Madinah. For those who set up their programme themselves, our independent Umrah guide also shows the way.

Where Is Ihram Entered According to the Place of Landing?

The arrival airport determines not only the transport but also the place where you will enter ihram. According to Türkiye’s High Council of Religious Affairs (Din İşleri Yüksek Kurulu), those who come from outside the miqat, that is, the afaqis, cannot enter ihram in Jeddah; those coming from the north and the west must enter ihram before passing the line of Juhfah. For this reason, a traveller flying to Jeddah in order to go directly to Makkah puts on the ihram garment before boarding the plane, and makes the intention and the talbiyah on the plane, when the miqat announcement is made.

For a traveller landing in Madinah, the situation is different: they stay in Madinah and, when setting out for Makkah, enter ihram at Dhul-Hulayfah, the miqat of Madinah. We explained the miqat boundaries and the details on the question of Jeddah in our article on the miqat points, and how the intention is made in our article on the intention for ihram.

Note: If you are flying to Jeddah, put your ihram garment, belt and slippers not in the suitcase but in your hand luggage. For men, how the ihram is worn is in our article on how to wear ihram.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

This article was prepared by the RotaNur editorial team on the basis of the sources below. In religious rulings, the approach of the Presidency of Religious Affairs of Türkiye (Diyanet) is taken as the basis. As airport operations and entry rules may change, consult the official sources and your flight documents before setting out.

1. Saudipedia, “King Abdulaziz International Airport”. saudipedia.com. Accessed: 11.11.2026.
2. Saudipedia, “Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport”. saudipedia.com. Accessed: 11.11.2026.
3. Saudipedia, “Haramain High Speed Railway”. saudipedia.com. Accessed: 11.11.2026.
4. Arab News, “Hajj terminal in Jeddah can handle 175,000 pilgrims at a time”, 02.08.2017. arabnews.com. Accessed: 11.11.2026.
5. Presidency of Religious Affairs of Türkiye (Diyanet), High Council of Religious Affairs, “Âfâkîler Cidde’de ihrama girebilir mi?” (Can afaqis enter ihram in Jeddah?), Fatwas. kurul.diyanet.gov.tr. Accessed: 11.11.2026.