Pakistan's Hajj flight operation begins tonight
Pakistan
PIA's first flight carrying 393 pilgrims will depart from Islamabad at 4:45am
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan’s Hajj flight operation is set to begin tonight with the departure of the first flight from Islamabad to Madinah.
The inaugural flight of the Hajj operation will take off from Islamabad International Airport, where a special ceremony will be planned to mark the occasion.
On the opening day, six flights will depart for Saudi Arabia. On April 29, two flights are scheduled from Lahore while one flight each will depart from Islamabad, Karachi, Quetta, and Multan.
PIA's first flight, PK-713, carrying 393 pilgrims, will depart from Islamabad at 4:45am. From Lahore, a private airline flight, PF-7700, will leave for Madinah at 8:30am with 150 pilgrims. From Quetta, PIA’s flight PK-7201 will depart at 9:30am carrying another 150 pilgrims.
Meanwhile, from Multan, PIA’s flight PK-715, with 393 pilgrims onboard, is scheduled to depart at 8:15pm. From Karachi, a private airline flight, ER-1611, will leave for Saudi Arabia at 9:30pm with 285 pilgrims.
Under the government Hajj scheme, 89,000 Pakistani pilgrims will be airlifted to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via 342 flights.
Sources added that the last Hajj flight from Pakistan will depart on May 31. The airlift operation will continue for 33 days. During the initial 15 days, all pilgrims will be transported to Madinah.
PIA, Serene Air, Airblue, AirSial, and a Saudi airline are participating in this year’s Hajj operation. In addition, another flight, PK-747, carrying 329 pilgrims, will depart from Lahore at 10:15pm.
