ISLAMABAD, Jul 13 (APP): A month-long post-Hajj-flight operation of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to bring back Pakistani pilgrims from the holy land of Saudi Arabia would commence in the wee hours of Thursday.
The national flag carrier’s first post-Hajj-flight PK-732, carrying pilgrims from Jeddah, would land at the Jinnah International Airport Karachi at 1 a.m. on Thursday, PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told the media.
The second flight PK-739, he said, would arrive at the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore at 2 a.m. on the same day. “On July 14 (Thursday), as many as five flights will reach Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Islamabad and Peshawar,”
Overall, the spokesman said, the PIA would operate around 154 flights to bring back 28,080 Pakistani Hujjaj from Saudi Arabia, out of which 17,200 had gone to perform the religious obligation under the government scheme, and 10,880 through the private scheme.
“The PIA’s post-Hajj-flight operation will continue from July 14 to August 13,” he added.
On the special directives of the Minister for Aviation, the spokesman said the PIA had introduced the city check-in mechanism under which Pakistani pilgrims, who performed Hajj under the government scheme, were getting boarding cards and submitting their luggage before arrival at their respective airports for departure.
This initiative, he said, had saved the pilgrims from arriving at airports 12 hours before boarding the flights and lining up in long queues, and now they would only be required to go through the immigration counters.
