Pakistan’s national flag carrier announced on Thursday it would begin operating direct Umrah flights from Quetta and Faisalabad to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Every month, thousands of Pakistanis travel to Saudi Arabia to visit the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah for the Umrah pilgrimage. Umrah is a voluntary Islamic pilgrimage to the holy sites in Saudi Arabia, considered a shorter version of Hajj, and can be performed throughout the year.
“PIA has announced direct flights from Quetta and Faisalabad to Jeddah on the strong insistence of pilgrims,” a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement. “Direct flights from Faisalabad and Quetta will be operated from August 6.”
The spokesperson further stated that two flights each from Quetta and Faisalabad to Jeddah would be operated per week.
Balochistan Governor Sheikh Jafar Khan Mandokhail expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for supporting the initiative. He noted that people in Balochistan previously had to travel to Karachi two days in advance to catch a direct Umrah flight to Saudi Arabia.
Mandokhail said, “Direct flights from Quetta to Jeddah will facilitate Baloch pilgrims in their travel. And when they [passengers from Balochistan] returned, they had to stay for a couple of days in Karachi to wait for a flight or another mode of transportation to return [to Balochistan].”
