Thursday, November 26, 2009
By our correspondent
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) team at Jeddah has started preparations for the return journey of over 127,000 Hajis from Saudi Arabia on completion of the holy pilgrimage, it said in a handout on Wednesday.
The airline’s post-Hajj operation will commence from December 2, and conclude on January 1, 2010.
“Civil aviation authorities of King Abdul Aziz International Airport have appreciated PIA’s pre-Hajj operations at Jeddah and Madinah for the speedy handling of passengers to avoid congestion at the terminal building,” it said.
PIA operated 33 Hajj flights carrying 15,043 intending pilgrims to Madinah including 4,146 pilgrims from Karachi, 3,260 from Lahore and 7,637 from Islamabad.
Furthermore, PIA operated 260 Hajj flights carrying 103,971 intending Hajj pilgrims to Jeddah. It airlifted 25,752 Hajj pilgrims from Karachi, 20,050 from Islamabad, 27,661 from Lahore, 16,781 from Peshawar, 9,547 from Quetta and 4,180 from Sialkot. In addition, 8,365 intending Hajj pilgrims travelled through PIA’s regular flights.
The airline’s pre-Hajj operation, which commenced on October 21, concluded on November 21. In all, PIA transported 127,379 intending Hajj pilgrims to the holy land through 293 Hajj flights and regular scheduled flights.
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