The plane to Jeddah was roughly a 6 hour flight. There is a 3 hour time zone difference between the KSA and UK. So my arrival time at Jeddah airport was going to be at 02:35 at Jeddah airport which was roughly 23:35 UK time.
The plane did arrive quite earlier than expected, roughly around 02:00 local time. It was a Wizz Air flight which was a pretty standard flight to be honest. I did purchase a tea on board for £3.60 which is a fair price but I understand it might be on the high side generally for everyday purchases.
On the plane, I did take some time to review my Umrah guide and where I could get some sleep. The only thing annoying/frustrating about the journey was where other passengers, male passengers, were already wearing their ihram clothes and had to use the loo. The ihram clothes are two pieces of white cloth/towels that pilgrims are meant to use to cover the body with nothing else worn. So one piece covering your lower half, and a top piece covering your torso. I wasn’t wearing this on board the flight.
It was quite inconvenient for other passengers because if you can imagine needing the loo whilst wearing this, it means you have to completely get undressed, use the loo and try in whatever way to put the two pieces of cloth back on again. Now, wearing the clothes isn’t too difficult. There are many easy to follow videos on YouTube which give clear how to’s. This wasn’t the hard part. But I think what was hard for anyone wearing these clothes is that one – you needed a lot more space than what was available at the plane toilets and two – the required privacy for undressing/dressing. Because of this on average these pilgrims took a total of 10-15 minutes whenever they needed to use the loos. This was very inconvenient and uncomfortable for others.
Was it absolutely necessary to wear the ihram on the plane? Well no, because we would be landing in Jeddah and not Mecca. The only point where you are required to wear the ihram clothes is at the Miqat. This is a boundary point around the grand mosque where the journey for Umrah technically begins. It’s at this boundary where you are required to make your intention that you intend to perform Umrah. It’s at this point where religiously you are required to wear the clothes to be in a state of “ehram” to then proceed with the journey to complete the Umrah. So no, it wasn’t absolutely necessary to wear the ihram clothes on the plane.
But I suspect, these pilgrims were intending to travel straight away to Mecca upon landing to perform Umrah which is perfectly fine but even then, I would have worn the ihram clothes at Jeddah airport. I’m sure there were more adequate facilities than on the plan.
I myself was wearing normal clothing, so jeans and a warm top. My experience with flights is that it can get a bit cold so this is another reason why I wouldn’t recommend wearing the ihram on the plane, as it could get very uncomfortable with the coolness of the plane.
There were other pilgrims who were in normal attire including the brother (I will refer to any men I come across throughout my journey who are completing the Umrah as brothers, because we were all completing this sacred duty as a community and family. So they are brothers not just other guys) next to me who is from Kent and travelling with his mother. He was very polite and very kind and I did on a handful of occasions offer my chocolate to him and his mother but they declined.
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