Hajj flights take over 1,700 Pakistani pilgrims to Madinah today

ISLAMABAD – Eight flights will transport more than 1,700 Hajj pilgrims from Pakistan to the Saudi city of Madinah on Wednesday, says a spokesperson for the religious affairs ministry.

Pilgrims from South Asian nation are using the Makkah route initiative this year, which allows all immigration requirements to be facilitated at the airport of origin.  

A spokesman of the religious affairs ministry told a local publication that a total of 1,710 pilgrims will be transported to Madinah via eight Hajj flights, saying four flights will depart from Islamabad and one each from Karachi, Multan, Lahore, and Quetta.

On Monday, the first Hajj flight departed from the federal capital with 319 pilgrims on board. More than 1,300 pilgrims would leave for the pilgrimage to Makkah tomorrow through five Hajj flights while the Hajj flight operation will conclude on June 30.  

A report of the state broadcaster suggests that over 3,900 hundred hajj pilgrims have departed Saudi Arabia, so far.

Hajj coordinators have been deployed in both holy cities and Saudi airports while hospitals and dispensaries have been set up in Kingdom under Pakistan Hajj Medical Mission.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allowed up to one million people to join the Hajj pilgrimage this year, inviting pilgrims across the globe for the first time after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pakistan has been allotted a quota of 81,132 pilgrims for this year’s Hajj, with 32,000 people using a government scheme and 48,000 traveling through private operators.