Saudi Arabia to test flying taxis, drones this Hajj season

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics, Saleh Al-Jasser, revealed that his ministry will test the use of flying taxis and drones during this year’s Hajj season.

“These represent highly advanced modes of transportation including taxi applications. There is a race between many specialised companies in the transport sector to provide the best means of transport over the coming years,” Al-Jasser told Al-Arabiya yesterday.

According to the news channel, the minister said Saudi Arabia is preparing more flexible and faster technologies and means of transportation during this year’s Hajj season to facilitate the pilgrim’s journey.

“So, we must be at the forefront in order to benefit from these services,” he added. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabian Airlines also unveiled plans to operate flying taxis to ferry Hajj pilgrims between King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and hotels in Makkah. Saudi Arabia intends to buy around 100 aircraft to operate the service.

Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia. This year’s Hajj season is expected to begin on 14 June.

Read: Saudi Arabia introduces new measures to reduce people performing illegal Hajj