Drones will transport medicine and medical samples to all locations in Mecca and Medina, cutting delivery time from 90 minutes to six minutes.
Saudi Arabia has put drones at the center of its medical logistics plan for the 2026 Hajj, deploying them to transport medicines and medical samples around the holy sites – including the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) in Mecca, the Prophet’s Mosque. (Masjid al-Nabawi) in Medina and the pilgrimage areas of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah.
Health Minister Fahad Al-Jalajel said in a statement to local media that the service is the result of two years of intensive studies and experiments, with evidence covering safe take-off and landing procedures, as well as performance at high temperatures.
Drones are equipped with cooling systems to protect temperature-sensitive medical cargo.
“This state-of-the-art technology aims to distribute medicine on a large scale during the Hajj season, reducing the time needed to distribute medical supplies to just six minutes, compared to the 90 minutes needed for ground transportation,” said Al-Jalajel.
The drone system is part of a wider healthcare operation being built for Hajj 2026.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health described the deployment of drones to deliver emergency medical supplies as the first of its kind globally in large-scale crowd healthcare management.
With 1.5 million pilgrims expected from outside Arabia for the 2026 Hajj, the pressure on healthcare infrastructure at the holy sites makes rapid distribution of supplies essential.
Saudi Arabia has confirmed full 5G network coverage across the holy sites, further supporting connected systems that support drone operations.

Source: prizrenpost