This year's Hajj season does not begin until early August, but the logistics of moving hundreds of thousands of pilgrims started at the weekend with specially chartered flights into Saudi Arabia.
The first pilgrims arrived from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Makkah becomes one of the most densely populated areas in the world during Hajj, with an estimated two million people moving in unison to perform the rituals.
Last year, about 1,535 flights carried pilgrims to Saudi airports, with more arriving over land and sea.
See the gallery above for the early arrivals for Hajj 2019. Below, The National explains Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
