Shipping Company from Mecca to the UK 0552803439 | Pilgrims’ Luggage, Furniture and Car Shipping to London and Birmingham

Home Safe is a shipping company from Mecca to the UK that moves pilgrims’ and Umrah luggage, furniture, parcels, goods and cars in two ways: by sea via Jeddah Islamic Port to Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton, and by air via King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah to Heathrow. Makkah is about 80 km from the port and the airport, so a shipment reaches them on the day it is collected. A container arrives at the consignee’s home in 25 to 36 days, and an air suitcase in 3 to 6 days. An air kilogram starts from SAR 26, a parcel up to 5 kg from SAR 110, and part-load furniture from SAR 5,500. To book: 0552803439.

In this guide44ShowHide

1. Who ships from Mecca to the UK, and what do they ship?
2. The shipping route from Mecca to the UK and its duration
3. From Mecca to Jeddah port, then the UK
4. Shipping price from Mecca to the UK
5. What is different about loading in Makkah?
6. Shipping pilgrims’ and Umrah luggage from Mecca to the UK
7. Shipping gifts, dates and parcels from Makkah
8. Shipping and packing furniture and appliances from Mecca to the UK
9. Transfer of Residence relief in the UK
10. Full container or part load?
11. Shipping commercial goods from Mecca to the UK
12. Car shipping from Mecca to the UK
13. Customs clearance in the UK and the documents required
14. What is not shipped from Mecca to the UK or needs a permit
15. Delivering shipments from Mecca in London, Birmingham and Leicester
16. Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and embassies
17. Air freight from Mecca to the UK
18. Air or sea? And is there land freight to the UK?
19. Collection from Makkah’s districts and nearby towns
20. Steps for shipping from Mecca to the UK
21. Insurance, tracking and follow-up after shipping
22. Shipping from the UK to Makkah
23. Tips before shipping from Mecca to the UK
24. How do you choose a shipping company from Mecca to the UK?
25. Common mistakes when shipping from Mecca to the UK
26. Why Home Safe for shipping from Mecca to the UK?
27. Related articles and pages
28. Tags
29. Frequently asked questions about shipping from Mecca to the UK
30. How much does shipping from Mecca to the UK cost?
31. How many days does a shipment need from Makkah to reach the UK?
32. Makkah has neither a port nor an airport, so where does my shipment leave from?
33. I am an Umrah pilgrim from the UK and my bags are over the limit; what do I do?
34. Can I ship Zamzam water to the UK?
35. Are dates, honey and gifts allowed into the UK?
36. Do I pay customs on my own belongings coming back with me from Umrah or Hajj?
37. Which British port does a container leaving Jeddah head for?
38. Is my furniture exempt from tax if I am returning to settle in the UK?
39. Do you ship a car from Makkah to the UK?
40. Is loading delayed in Ramadan and the Hajj season?
41. My house is in a hillside district that trucks cannot reach; do you collect from it?
42. Do you deliver to Leicester, Bradford and the smaller towns?
43. Does the price include insurance?
44. Do you ship from the UK to Makkah?

Sea itinerary: Makkah → Jeddah Islamic Port → Suez Canal → Mediterranean → Gibraltar → Felixstowe · Arrival time: 25–36 days for a full container, and 3–6 days by air via Jeddah airport.

Who ships from Mecca to the UK, and what do they ship?

Most users of this route are not residents of Makkah. They are visitors who came from London, Birmingham or Leicester for Umrah or Hajj and bought more for family and neighbours than their ticket allows. Next comes the Briton who worked for years in Makkah, at a university, a hospital or a hotel, and is going home with a whole household. Then come Makkah families sending to a son studying there, and the trader supplying Islamic shops in the UK with goods from Makkah’s markets. Each of them is suited by a different method:

Shipper	What they mostly ship	Best method	What the UK asks about
British Umrah and Hajj pilgrim	Extra suitcases, dates, prayer mats, abayas and gifts	Air for a little, sea for group luggage	Separating returning used items from new purchases
Briton returning from work in Makkah	Household furniture, appliances, a library and a car	20ft or 40ft container	The Transfer of Residence approval number
Family with a son studying in the UK	Winter clothes, books and dry foods	Air parcel or sea cartons	Proof of study for baggage, and gift value for a parcel
Trader in gifts and Islamic supplies	Prayer mats, prayer beads, abayas, perfumes and dates	Container, or pallets in a part load	Importer number, commercial invoice and product labels
Umrah companies, hotels and organisations	Group luggage, documents and printed matter	Sea for groups, air for documents	A list naming the owners of the bags

The shipping route from Mecca to the UK and its duration

The sea journey is five consecutive links, and the first is the shortest. The truck leaves Makkah and reaches Jeddah port in roughly an hour and a half, then the container waits for its vessel, then sails north up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, and rounds Spain through the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the English Channel. The time we write for you begins on the loading day in Makkah and ends on the unloading day at the British house, and these are its parts for a full container:

Link	What happens in it	Usual time
Loading in Makkah and the haul to Jeddah	Dismantling, packing and inventory, then a truck to the port in the permitted hours	1–2 days
Export and waiting for the vessel	Export declaration, and handing the container to the shipping line’s yard	5–7 days
Sailing	Red Sea, Suez, the Mediterranean, Gibraltar, then the English Channel	14–20 days
Clearance in the UK	Import declaration, and the relief number or payment of tax	3–4 working days
Delivery to the address	A British truck from the port, then unloading inside the house	2–3 days

Anything smaller than a container or more urgent has a different time. A pilgrim’s suitcase does not wait for a ship at all, a few cartons travel with other people’s shipments, and a car is booked on vessels dedicated to it. This is the time for each method, counted from Makkah:

Method	Itinerary	Time from Makkah	Who it suits
Full container	Makkah → Jeddah port → Felixstowe or London Gateway	25–36 days	A whole house, or a trader’s goods
Part-load sea freight	A shared container consolidated in Jeddah and sorted in the UK	30–41 days	A group’s luggage, cartons, and a room or two
RoRo for cars	Carrier to Jeddah port, then a car vessel to Southampton	26–38 days	A running car driven onto the ship
Air	Makkah → Jeddah airport → Heathrow	3–6 days	Visitors’ suitcases, parcels and documents

What lengthens the time?

• After Hajj: demand crowds into the two weeks following the season, so flights and shared containers fill up fast.
• Truck hours in Makkah: a loading with no booked slot may wait a day until entry is allowed.
• The vessel’s route: the shipping line may divert its sailing round the Cape of Good Hope instead of Suez, adding one to two weeks. We tell you the route when you book.

Times for the other destinations are on the transit times page.

From Mecca to Jeddah port, then the UK

Makkah is an inland city among mountains, with no coast and no quay. Yet the largest port on the Red Sea lies about 80 km to its west, an advantage the distant inland cities do not have: a container sealed in Makkah in the morning passes through the gate of Jeddah Islamic Port before evening. The Haramain train linking the two cities is for passengers only and carries no cargo, so the motorway is the only means.

Jeddah port has a second merit on the UK route in particular. The vessel leaves it heading straight for Suez, without crossing the Arabian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea as ships leaving the east coast do. So whoever ships from Makkah starts from the nearest major Saudi point to Europe. We handle the load in one of two forms:

Comparison	The container comes to your door	Closed truck, then packing at the warehouse
When it works	A wide, level street that can take a trailer 12 metres long or more	A hillside district, a narrow street, or a building in the central area
Where the container is sealed	In front of you in Makkah, with the seal number on the bill of lading	At our warehouse near the port, with a numbered inventory and photos sent to you

We book the space on the vessel before the truck moves from Makkah, not after it arrives. A container that enters the port without a booking pays storage for every day of waiting. The service is explained on the sea freight page, and what happens inside the port in the article international sea freight from Jeddah.

Shipping price from Mecca to the UK

The question about price is preceded by another: what is your shipment measured by? A visitor’s suitcase and a parcel are measured by the kilogram, cartons and furniture by the cubic metre, a whole house by the container, and a car by its size. On that basis the figure is built from three items: collection in Makkah and the haul to Jeddah, the sea or air freight, and clearance and delivery in the UK. These are the prices our services start from on this route:

What you ship	Method	Price starts from
Suitcases, cartons and samples	Air via Jeddah airport	SAR 26 per kilogram
Documents up to one kilogram	Express	SAR 83
Parcel up to 5 kg	Express	SAR 110
Furniture and baggage	Part-load sea freight	SAR 5,500
Full household furniture	Full container	SAR 11,000
Saloon car	RoRo from Jeddah port to Southampton	SAR 2,800
Luggage of a tour group	Consolidated sea freight	Set by the number and weight of the bags
Transport from Makkah to Jeddah	By volume and district	Set on request

Market prices on this route are not published for Makkah specifically but for the Kingdom in general, and they vary. Published for air: about SAR 28 per kilogram, SAR 30 per kilogram on the economy postal service with a total near SAR 500 for a medium parcel, and SAR 400 per 5 kg from others. Among the figures offered for Makkah: SAR 850 for an air parcel up to 5 kg, SAR 1,500 for urgent service at the same weight, SAR 1,200 for a part load, SAR 7,500 for a 20ft container and SAR 13,500 for a 40ft container. The variation comes from what each figure includes, so compare offers item by item.

What changes the price	How it shows in a Makkah shipment
Weight or volume	Air on chargeable weight, sea on the cubic metre. Work out your volume with the CBM calculator
Collection point	A hotel with a loading bay is easier than a hillside house needing a small vehicle and workers
Season	Ramadan and the period after Hajj bring higher demand for flights
Customs status	Transfer of Residence relief removes the tax, and its absence adds 20% on the value

How do you lower the cost?

• Gather your family’s bags or your group companions’ bags into one handover, since one collection is cheaper than five.
• Send by plane what you need or will give away as soon as you arrive, and leave the heavy items to the sea.
• Hand over your luggage days before the travel peak, not on the night of departure.
• Obtain the relief approval before the furniture is loaded if you are moving residence.

For what moves the figure up or down, see the pricing factors page; for worked calculations on this route, read shipping prices from Saudi Arabia to the UK.

What is different about loading in Makkah?

Loading in Makkah involves a calculation no other city knows, because in some weeks the city hosts several times its own population. Truck movement there is organised by hours set by the competent authorities and changing between ordinary days and the seasons, so we do not write a specific hour in this article; we confirm the hours in force before the loading day. These are the situations we arrange for in advance:

Situation	What follows from it	How we act
Regulated truck entry	Loading is possible in set time windows	We book the slot inside the window and arrive before it with a ready crew
The last ten days of Ramadan and the days of Hajj	Tighter restrictions around the central area and the holy sites	Loading before the season, or collection by small vehicles and storage
Hillside districts	Steep lanes that cannot take a trailer	A small vehicle shuttles to a truck waiting on a main street
Hotels and towers	Service lift and loading bay by appointment	We coordinate with the hotel management and collect from reception or the luggage room

Shipping pilgrims’ and Umrah luggage from Mecca to the UK

Tens of thousands come from the UK every year for Hajj and Umrah, most of them from cities with large Muslim communities such as London, Birmingham, Leicester, Bradford, Luton and Manchester. The British visitor goes home loaded: dates for every relative’s household, prayer mats, abayas and thobes, prayer beads, perfumes and copies of the Quran. The airline scale shows no mercy, and the charge for an excess kilogram at the airport is many times the cost of shipping it. The answer is to hand the bags over in Makkah and receive them at the front door.

Collection from the hotel follows a fixed routine with us. The representative comes to reception or the luggage room at the agreed time, weighs each bag in front of its owner, sticks on a label with a serial number, and writes a receipt showing the number of pieces, the weight of each, and the consignee’s name, address and postcode. Any gift cartons handed over open are closed and strapped before they leave the hotel.

Case	Method	Time from Makkah	Price starts from
One or two suitcases for a visitor	Air via Jeddah airport	3–6 days	SAR 26 per kilogram
Small gift parcel	Express	3–5 days	SAR 110 up to 5 kg
Luggage of a whole tour group	Consolidated sea freight to one city	30–41 days	Set by the number and weight of the bags

• The label: the bag owner’s name as in the passport, the British mobile number, and the home postcode.
• The list: returning used items on one line, and new purchases on lines showing their quantity and value in pounds.
• What stays with the visitor: passport, cash, gold, medicines and the Zamzam pack dedicated to travel.
• Timing: at least two days before leaving Makkah, and anyone flying straight after Hajj hands the bags over before going up to Mina.

Shipping gifts, dates and parcels from Makkah

Not every parcel leaving Makkah is a visitor’s suitcase. A mother sends clothes and coffee to her son studying in Leeds, a grandfather sends dates to his grandchildren in London before Ramadan, and a resident sends his family a Quran and a prayer mat. These are small parcels that travel by air, and their rule at UK customs is clear: what one individual sends to another as a gift for an occasion is free of tax within a small value, and anything above it, or bought at the recipient’s request, is treated as goods.

• Price: starts from SAR 110 for a parcel up to 5 kg, and from SAR 26 per kilogram above that.
• Gift limit: current practice is £39 for relief from tax, and customs duty begins above £135. We confirm both limits in force before sending.
• Dates: they enter the UK from outside Europe without a plant health certificate, and ship in sealed packs stating the contents.
• Oud wood, incense and oud oil: items governed by the convention on protected species, so small personal quantities are accepted and anything more needs a certificate.
• The declaration: each item with its English name, quantity and value, since that is what customs reads before deciding to open the parcel.

How to prepare a parcel is on the parcel shipping page.

Shipping and packing furniture and appliances from Mecca to the UK

Someone leaving Makkah for good after years of work takes a home that holds things not sold over there: an Arabic majlis, hand-made carpets, a library, and kitchenware the family is used to. We begin with two questions before any measuring: can the container reach your door in Makkah? And how wide are the door and stairs of the British house? Houses there have narrower entrances, and a sofa that will not pass the door is not worth shipping.

• Dismantling: wardrobes and beds come apart into numbered panels, and each panel carries a taped bag holding its own screws.
• Packing: blankets and corrugated paper for wood, foam and corners for glass, and moisture-absorbing bags with carpets and fabric.
• Timber crates: for mirrors, paintings and ornaments, of heat-treated wood bearing the ISPM 15 stamp the UK requires.
• Inventory: a number on each piece matched by a line in English in the list, with description, condition and value.
• In the UK: each piece taken into its room, whatever was dismantled reassembled, and the packing waste collected.
• Electrical and electronic appliances: the British three-pin socket is the common one in the Kingdom, and the voltage there is 230 volts at 50 hertz against 60 hertz here. Anything whose label reads 50/60 hertz works, and the 110–127 volt appliances in some old Makkah houses need a transformer. The fridge is dried a day earlier, and the washing machine drum is secured with its transit bolts.

Moisture is the first hazard on this journey. The furniture leaves Makkah’s hot, dry air, spends weeks in a metal box on the surface of the sea, and is then opened in cold, damp weather. That is why we do not wrap painted wood directly in plastic, and we leave fabric an outlet to breathe through. Details are on the furniture shipping page, and packing methods in the packing guide.

Transfer of Residence relief in the UK

Used furniture does not enter the UK exempt of its own accord. It is exempt if its owner is moving his main residence there and applied for the relief to the British tax authority through its website before shipping, receiving a reference number that is written in the import declaration. A Briton returning from Makkah after a work contract is the clearest case it applies to. These are the relief conditions in current practice, and we review those in force with you before booking the vessel:

Item	Requirement
Period lived outside the UK	At least 12 consecutive months before the move
The goods	Owned and used for at least 6 months, so a new item in its carton is not covered
Entry deadline	Within 12 months of the day of the move
After release	No sale, loan or hire for 12 months
Outside the relief	Tobacco, alcohol and commercial vehicles, and furniture for a second home or holiday home
A student	Has a relief specific to students with proof of admission, without this application

Attachments to the application: a copy of the passport, the contents list, proof of your home in Makkah such as a registered tenancy contract or a utility bill, and proof of your address in the UK. The reply sometimes takes weeks, so we open the file with you on the survey day, and the container is not closed before the number arrives.

Full container or part load?

Volume settles the choice. Whoever has less than half a container pays, in a part load, only for the metres he occupies, and accepts a longer time and more handling. Whoever fills the container or comes close has it to himself, sealed in Makkah or at the warehouse and opened only before UK customs. Here is the difference in a table:

Comparison	Full container	Part-load sea freight
Charging	On the whole container, full or not	On the cubic metre
Time from Makkah	25–36 days	30–41 days
Handling	One loading and one unloading	Consolidation in Jeddah and sorting in a British warehouse
Suits	A house of three rooms or more, or furniture with a car	Group luggage, cartons, and a small flat’s furniture
Price starts from	SAR 11,000	SAR 5,500

A 20ft container holds about 28 cubic metres, enough for a two-bedroom flat after dismantling. A 40ft container is roughly double that. Internal measurements are on the container sizes page.

Shipping commercial goods from Mecca to the UK

The UK has many shops selling prayer and Hajj supplies and gifts for Ramadan and Eid, most of them in Leicester, Birmingham, east London and Bradford, and their stock comes from Makkah’s markets and warehouses. Commercial goods do not enter in an individual’s name. They enter in the name of a British importer with a customs identification number, with a commercial invoice and a tariff heading for each item. Each kind of goods leaving Makkah has its own requirement:

Item	How it ships	What is required in the UK
Prayer mats, abayas, thobes and ihram garments	Bales or cartons on pallets	Label with fibre composition and country of origin
Prayer beads, gifts and ornaments	Cartons, and air for small quantities	Description of the material, as ivory and coral are banned
Packed dates	Dry container, or refrigerated for the soft varieties	English label with the importer’s name and address, and a certificate of origin
Perfumes, incense and personal care products	Sea, and air under the flammables restrictions	A responsible person inside the UK and a product file

Pallets and timber crates are stamped with the heat-treatment mark, otherwise they are turned back at the port. A trader who ships every month has a fixed schedule, a tax invoice and collection from his warehouse. Details are on the commercial shipping page.

Car shipping from Mecca to the UK

The car is not driven from Makkah to the port; a car carrier takes it and arrives within hours. Before that we photograph it from all four sides and inside, and write a report of its condition and odometer that you sign. At Jeddah port you choose one of three methods, and the destination is mostly Southampton, the British port the car vessels head for:

Method	Description	For which car
RoRo	The car enters the ship on its wheels and is lashed in the hold, shipped empty	An ordinary running car, and the lowest freight
20ft container	Secured with straps and timber chocks inside a sealed container	Luxury, classic and non-running cars
40ft container	The car in one part and the furniture in the other	Someone returning to the UK with home and car

RoRo freight starts from SAR 2,800 for a saloon from Jeddah port, and four-wheel-drive cars are higher because charging is by size. Left-hand drive does not prevent registration in the UK, but current practice is that the car is notified within 14 days of its arrival, that 10% duty and 20% tax are paid on it unless it comes under the mover’s relief, and that it passes Individual Vehicle Approval if it is under ten years old, after the headlamps, speedometer and rear fog lamp are modified. We confirm what is in force before booking. The comparison is on the RoRo car shipping and container car shipping pages, and the full explanation in the article car shipping from Jeddah to the UK.

Customs clearance in the UK and the documents required

The UK has its own customs, independent of the European Union, and its import declaration is lodged electronically before the shipment arrives or on arrival. The starting point is that everything entering bears 20% value added tax calculated on its value plus the freight, and a duty that differs by item, except what enters under a relief. Three things best ease clearance, and we keep to them in Makkah: a detailed list in English, a consignee name matching the passport letter for letter, and a file completed before the truck moves. This is what is required for each type:

Type of shipment	Documents	Note
Hajj or Umrah pilgrim’s luggage	Passport copy, a list separating used from new, and a full British address	Value in pounds against each new item
Furniture of someone moving residence	Passport, relief approval number, contents list and bill of lading	No loading before the number is issued
Parcel or gift	Sender’s ID, and a statement of the items and their value	It states that it is a gift and the occasion
Commercial goods	The importer’s customs identification number, with a commercial invoice, packing list, origin certificate and the bill of lading	Extra certificates for foods and personal care products
Car	Registration and export certificate, passport, purchase invoice and chassis number	Registration conditions are reviewed before shipping

The Saudi export declaration is our job, issued at Jeddah port or at its airport, and a resident departing for good may be asked to show proof of exit. The shipping documents page goes through the papers one by one, and the customs clearance page covers how release works.

What is not shipped from Mecca to the UK or needs a permit

Most of what gets held from Makkah shipments was packed with good intentions: a bottle of Zamzam among the clothes, a tin of ghee in a carton of dates, or an ornamental dagger bought as a souvenir. Holding one item delays the whole shipment. We go through the contents with you at collection, and these are the main entries:

Item	Ruling
Zamzam water	Not shipped. Taking it out is restricted, and a traveller has the dedicated travel pack only
Meat, dairy, ghee and cheese	Prohibited in personal baggage and parcels
Daggers, swords and some knives	Strict rules, and they are confiscated
Ivory, coral and protected skins, and oud in quantity	With a certificate under the international convention on protected species
Medicines	A personal quantity with a prescription, and some need permission
Plants, seeds and soil	With a plant health certificate, apart from specified fruits including dates
Cash, gold and passports	Stay with the traveller and are not shipped

The general list is on the prohibited items page, and anyone unsure about an item should send its photo before closing the suitcase.

Delivering shipments from Mecca in London, Birmingham and Leicester

Most addresses on this route are in three cities: London, Birmingham and Leicester, then the towns neighbouring them in the middle of England. Our agent takes over the container or the air shipment after clearance and calls the consignee to settle the delivery day and whether it will be morning or afternoon. The luggage of a single tour group is sorted in his warehouse by label numbers, then goes out on a distribution round to the houses or is handed over together wherever the organiser asks.

City	Distance from Felixstowe	Delivery note
London	About 140 km	Narrow residential streets and restricted parking, so we book the parking permit in advance
Leicester	About 225 km	On the road from the port to the middle of the country, delivered the day after release
Birmingham and Coventry	About 260 km	The distribution hub of central England
Nottingham and Derby	About 250 km	Served from the Leicester round
Manchester, Bradford and Blackburn	370–430 km	The north, with a day added
Cardiff, Glasgow and Edinburgh	Up to 720 km	Two to three days added

A British address is written in its order: house number, then street name, then town, then the postcode that points to the very street. Add a mobile number answered by someone at home during the day. Northern Ireland has a special customs arrangement, so mention it to us before booking. The rest of our destinations are on the shipping destinations page.

Services for individuals, companies, government bodies and embassies

Makkah has customers you do not find together in any other city: a visitor staying two weeks, a resident of twenty years, an Umrah company handling hundreds of bags in a day, and a university sending its scholarship students’ documents. We arrange the service according to who it is for, not in a single mould:

Customer	Need	What we provide
Individuals and families	Moving a house or a parcel without complication	Survey, itemised price, and one coordinator until delivery
Hajj and Umrah pilgrims	Quick collection from the hotel	Weighing, numbering and a receipt, and delivery to the house in the UK
Umrah companies and tour organisers	Group luggage at a single appointment	A manifest of names, collection from more than one hotel, and distribution over there
Government bodies and universities	Documents, printed matter and exhibits	Sealed envelopes, and delivery against the named consignee’s signature
Embassies and consulates	Transferred staff baggage and correspondence	Coordination with the mission’s administration, and confidentiality in description and delivery

Air freight from Mecca to the UK

Air freight from Makkah passes through King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, as Makkah has no airport. We collect the suitcase or parcel from the house or hotel and move it to the cargo village at the airport the same day. Between Jeddah and Heathrow there are direct flights covering about 4,770 km in under seven hours, and flights operate to other British airports according to the schedule. Door to door takes 3 to 6 days, including security screening in Jeddah and clearance in the UK.

• Suits: visitors’ suitcases, gift parcels, documents, samples, and anything with a deadline.
• Chargeable weight: we compare what the scale shows with the volumetric figure (the three dimensions in centimetres multiplied together, then divided by 6000) and bill the higher. The volumetric weight calculator does the sum for you.
• Price: starts from SAR 26 per kilogram, SAR 83 for documents, and SAR 110 for a parcel up to 5 kg.
• A bulging soft bag: is charged on its volume, so strap it down or swap it for a regular carton.
• What screening rejects: flammable liquids, pressurised containers and loose lithium batteries.

More on flying cargo is on the air freight page, and how things run at the airport itself is in air freight office in Jeddah.

Air or sea? And is there land freight to the UK?

The rule is short: what is weighed in kilograms and expected soon flies, and what is measured in cubic metres sails. Many of our customers combine the two in one file, with two suitcases going ahead by air and the rest following by sea.

As for land freight, we do not operate it to the UK. A truck would have to cross many countries and then a sea at the end of the road, and a sea container arrives sealed at a lower cost. Our land service is for the neighbouring Gulf states and Jordan, detailed in the article shipping from Saudi Arabia to the Gulf states. Anyone heading for another European country will find a guide in the article shipping from Saudi Arabia to Europe, and the comparison of methods on the shipping methods comparison page.

Collection from Makkah’s districts and nearby towns

We reach every district of Makkah: Al-Aziziyah, Ash-Shawqiyyah, Al-Awali, Ash-Sharai, An-Naseem, Az-Zaidi, Batha Quraysh, Ar-Rusayfah, Al-Utaybiyyah and Az-Zahir, and the old districts around the Haram such as Al-Misfalah, Jarwal and Al-Hindawiyyah. We collect from hotels and pilgrims’ accommodation, and from the nearby governorates whose shipments join the same run to Jeddah:

Place	Distance from Makkah	How we collect
Hotels of the central area and Ajyad	Inside Makkah	From reception or the luggage room, by small vehicles in the seasons
Al-Aziziyah, Ash-Shishah and Kudai	Inside Makkah	Pilgrims’ accommodation, with a consolidated collection for the group
Hillside districts	Inside Makkah	Small vehicle and workers to the nearest main street
Al-Jumum	About 25 km	On the same day as Makkah
Bahrah	About 40 km	On the Jeddah road, so it joins the truck
Taif	About 90 km	Brought in the day before loading

For anyone who vacates the house before the British address is ready or the relief approval is issued, we keep the belongings numbered in the warehouse and ship them when told to. Conditions are on the storage page, and collection cities on the service cities page.

Steps for shipping from Mecca to the UK

1. Contact: you send us what you are shipping, your district or hotel name in Makkah, and the postcode of the British address.
2. Establishing your status: visitor, someone moving residence, gift sender, or trader. The paperwork is written on that basis.
3. Estimate and price: by photos for suitcases and by survey for furniture, then a price divided into its items.
4. Booking the slot: within the window permitted for trucks, or at an hour agreed with the hotel reception.
5. Collection: weighing, numbering and a receipt for suitcases, or dismantling, packing and inventory for furniture, and you sign the list.
6. To Jeddah: the port for what sails and the airport cargo village for what flies, with the export declaration.
7. Follow-up: the bill of lading or container number reaches you, with a message at every stage.
8. Clearance and delivery: the agent releases the shipment and delivers it to the door, and you sign for receipt.

Insurance, tracking and follow-up after shipping

A shipment leaving Makkah is loaded and unloaded more than once: in the district, then sometimes at the warehouse, then at the port or airport, then in the UK. The sea and air carriers’ liability is limited to sums that do not match the value of furniture or costly gifts. So insurance is a separate item that we offer and whose limits we explain, and the decision is yours. Our work does not end when the aircraft takes off or the ship sails.

• What insurance covers: loss and damage from collection to delivery, at the value written against each line in the list. Terms are on the cargo insurance page.
• Tracking: a container is followed by its number through the line’s site, and a flown bag by its air waybill through the airline’s. Our track your shipment page shows how.
• Follow-up messages: on leaving Makkah, entering the port or airport, sailing or take-off, arrival, release, and going out for delivery.
• After delivery: any remark is written on the delivery note on the spot with a photo, and we handle the claim file with the insurer.

Shipping from the UK to Makkah

The route works in both directions. Someone coming to live in Makkah ships a household from the UK, a buyer from British shops needs someone to receive and consolidate the purchases, and a tour organiser sends the group’s supplies ahead of its arrival. Our agent collects from the British address, and the shipment arrives in Jeddah and is then moved to Makkah.

• By air: to King Abdulaziz Airport, then a vehicle to Makkah after clearance.
• By sea: from Felixstowe or Southampton to Jeddah port, then a truck entering Makkah in the permitted hours.
• Saudi customs: the used belongings of someone arriving to live there enter as personal effects with a list, and new items carry a duty by type and 15% value added tax.

Tips before shipping from Mecca to the UK

• Book the hotel collection two days before you leave, and give reception the representative’s name.
• Photograph each suitcase open before closing it; the photo cuts short any argument if it is opened at customs.
• Write the actual value of purchases in pounds; a token figure raises suspicion and voids the insurance.
• Do not mix used and new items in one suitcase if you can avoid it.
• Take Zamzam, ghee, cheese and dried meat out of everything being shipped.
• If you are moving furniture, measure the door and stairs of the house there before deciding what to ship.

How do you choose a shipping company from Mecca to the UK?

In the seasons, per-kilogram shipping offers multiply around the hotels, some with no registration and no receipt. A suitcase handed over without paperwork cannot be claimed for. These signs separate those who can be trusted from those who cannot:

What you look at	Reassuring sign	Worrying sign
Legal status	Commercial registration and a stamped receipt in the establishment’s name	A mobile number only and cash payment with no receipt
Weight	A scale in front of you and each piece’s weight on the receipt	An estimate by eye, or a total weight with no breakdown
Contents	Asks what is in the bag and removes what is prohibited	Accepts Zamzam, ghee and everything else
Delivery	A known agent, a tracking number and delivery to the door	“You collect it from the airport”, mentioned only after payment

Common mistakes when shipping from Mecca to the UK

• Handing over suitcases on the night of travel in a season when trucks enter only at set hours.
• Hiding a bottle of Zamzam among the clothes in the belief that it will not be found.
• Writing “personal effects” on a suitcase half full of new gifts with their receipts.
• Leaving the label without a postcode, or with a Saudi mobile number that will be switched off after travel.
• Shipping a mover’s furniture before the relief approval number is issued.
• Choosing air for a full coach’s luggage, when its cost by sea is a small fraction.
• Paying a carrier at the hotel door with no receipt and no registration.

Why Home Safe for shipping from Mecca to the UK?

To book: 0552803439 by call or WhatsApp, from 7 am to 11 pm. Or from the request a quote page.

Related articles and pages

• Shipping company from Saudi Arabia to the UK
• Shipping company from Jeddah to the UK
• Shipping company from Riyadh to the UK
• Shipping company from Mecca to the Netherlands
• Car shipping
• Shipping services

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Frequently asked questions about shipping from Mecca to the UK

How much does shipping from Mecca to the UK cost?

The smallest thing we ship is an express document envelope from SAR 83, followed by a parcel of no more than 5 kg from SAR 110, then suitcases and cartons by air from SAR 26 per kilogram. What travels by sea starts from SAR 5,500 for part-load furniture, SAR 11,000 for a full-house container, and SAR 2,800 for a saloon car on a RoRo vessel out of Jeddah port. To book: 0552803439.

How many days does a shipment need from Makkah to reach the UK?

Anything that flies reaches its address in 3 to 6 days. A full container needs 25 to 36 days from the door in Makkah to the consignee’s door, 14 to 20 of them at sea. Part-load cartons need 30 to 41 days, because they wait for the shared container to be completed in Jeddah and are then sorted in a British warehouse before distribution.

Makkah has neither a port nor an airport, so where does my shipment leave from?

From Jeddah in both cases. Sea cargo is loaded in Makkah into a closed truck or into the container itself and covers about 80 km to Jeddah Islamic Port. Air cargo goes to the cargo village at King Abdulaziz Airport. The charge for this leg is a visible line in the price, and you carry nothing to Jeddah yourself.

I am an Umrah pilgrim from the UK and my bags are over the limit; what do I do?

Call us two or three days before you travel. Our representative comes to your hotel, weighs each bag in front of you, sticks a number on it and writes you a receipt with the count and weights. You fly with your hand luggage, and the rest follows by air to your address in the UK within 3 to 6 days, or by sea if there is a lot of it and no deadline is pressing you.

Can I ship Zamzam water to the UK?

No. Zamzam water is not accepted as commercial cargo, nor inside a parcel or a shipped suitcase, because taking it out of the Kingdom is restricted. What a traveller may have is the dedicated travel pack, collected and carried on their own flight.

Are dates, honey and gifts allowed into the UK?

Dates are among the fruits the UK accepts from outside Europe without a plant health certificate, so they ship in sealed packs. Honey has a small per-person quantity limit in current practice. Meat, dairy and ghee are prohibited. A gift between two individuals is free of tax as long as its value is within £39, and we confirm the limits in force before sending.

Do I pay customs on my own belongings coming back with me from Umrah or Hajj?

Your used clothes and belongings that left the UK with you are declared as personal effects returning to their owner, and that is how we write them in the list. New purchases are listed separately with their value, and tax may be charged on them if they exceed the relief limits.

Which British port does a container leaving Jeddah head for?

Felixstowe on most sailings, on the east coast of England. London Gateway on the River Thames is an alternative closer to the capital, and Southampton in the south is where the car carriers call. On the booking day we tell you whether the sailing is direct or with transhipment.

Is my furniture exempt from tax if I am returning to settle in the UK?

Yes, if you obtain Transfer of Residence approval before the container is loaded. Its conditions in current practice are that you have lived outside the UK for 12 consecutive months, that the goods have been yours and in use for 6 months, and that they enter within 12 months of your move. Without the approval number, 20% tax and a duty on some items are collected.

Do you ship a car from Makkah to the UK?

Yes. A car carrier takes it from Makkah to Jeddah port in a few hours, then it sails to Southampton on a RoRo vessel or in a locked container. RoRo starts from SAR 2,800 for a saloon from the port. The UK accepts registration of a left-hand-drive car after modifications and a test, and we go through its conditions with you before you pay anything.

Is loading delayed in Ramadan and the Hajj season?

It is, if the booking is left to the last moment. Truck movement inside Makkah is organised by hours that narrow in the last ten days of Ramadan and during the days of Hajj, and straight after Hajj thousands of pilgrims ask for shipping in a single week. So book two weeks before the season.

My house is in a hillside district that trucks cannot reach; do you collect from it?

Yes. Districts such as Al-Misfalah, Jarwal and Al-Hindawiyyah have steep lanes that neither a closed truck nor a container can enter. We send a small vehicle and workers who bring the items down to the nearest wide street, or we move them to our warehouse and the container is packed there with a numbered inventory.

Do you deliver to Leicester, Bradford and the smaller towns?

Yes. We deliver in London, Birmingham and Leicester, and in Luton, Coventry, Nottingham, Manchester, Bradford, Blackburn, Glasgow, Cardiff and elsewhere. Towns in the middle of England receive the shipment a day after release, and the north and Scotland after two to three days.

Does the price include insurance?

It does not; it is an item you choose. It is calculated as a percentage of the value you write against each item in the list, and it covers loss and damage from the moment of collection in Makkah to delivery in the UK.

Do you ship from the UK to Makkah?

Yes. Our agent collects from the house or the shop in any British city, and the shipment arrives at Jeddah airport by air or at its port by sea, then moves to Makkah by truck and is delivered in the permitted hours. The used belongings of someone arriving to live there are cleared as personal effects, and new goods carry 15% value added tax and a duty according to their type.