Two passengers – not related to each other or traveling together – died on the same Saudia flight on Friday, and the airline experienced two bomb scares in four days amidst escalating tensions in the region.

On Friday, June 20, 2025, two passengers died onboard a Saudia flight to Surabaya, Indonesia. One passenger was 67 and the other 85. They both passed at almost the same exact moment, about an hour prior to landing. One died of complications from high blood pressure, while the other is believed to have had a heart attack.

There was a doctor onboard who – along with other Hajj pilgrim physicians – administered aid to both passengers, however they were declared dead within 5 minutes of each other. Bodies were flown home. Both were from Bangkalan in Indonesia, and the East Java province regency has had a total of four Hajj‑related fatalities this year – one pre‑departure, one during the pilgrimage, and two now on their return flight.

Meanwhile on Saturday morning, June 21, Saudia flight 5688 was en route from Jeddah to Muscat to Surabaya when Jakarta air traffic control received a bomb threat against the Airbus A330. The flight diverted to Kualanamu International in Medan with 13 crew and 376 Hajj pilgrims onboard. The aircraft was swept and cleared.

This was the second Saudia Hajj pilgrimage flight bomb scare in four days, with the first involving a Jeddah to Jakarta flight which also diverted to Medan.

Elderly pilgrims are at high risk during long-haul flights, especially after emotional and physical strain of Hajj. However one of the deaths was relatively young. Two bomb threats in four days involving different Saudia flights could be coincidence but occur against regional instability, with Saudi Arabia predominantly Sunni, while the Iranian Islamic Republic is Shia. They’ve been on opposite sides of most regional conflicts. And they’re leading oil producers, with Saudi Arabia usually aligning with the West and Iran regularly aligning with enemies of the West.