First Hajj flight leaves Islamabad on Saturday
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—The first special Hajj flight PK- 9603 carrying 433 intending pilgrims on-board will leave for Jeddah from International Airport of the Federal Capital here on Saturday (November 25).
Speaker, National Assembly Ch. Amir Hussain will see off the intending pilgrims at the airport, Spokesman and Joint Secretary (Hajj), Ministry of Religious Affairs, Khawas Khan Niazi told APP here. He said the first Hajj flights PK-8401 from Lahore and PK- 1101 from Karachi will also leave for Saudi Arabia on the same day while the first Hajj flight PK-1803 from Peshawar will depart on Friday. The Hajj flights from airports of Quetta, Multan and Sukkur will reach Jeddah via Karachi while Hajj flights from Faisalabad airport will be sent to Jeddah via Lahore, he added.
Khawas Khan Niazi said that a total of 462 special Hajj flights will airlift 150,000 intending pilgrims to the Holy Land, upto December 25. The national flag carrier, PIA would transport about 124,500 intending pilgrims to Jeddah and Madina while Saudi Airline would airlift about 25,500 pilgrims for Hajj this year.
To facilitate the intending pilgrims further, he added that about 16,500 pilgrims would directly be flown to Madinah Munawara out of which 15,000 would travel through PIA while 1,500 through Saudi Airline. He said all the return flights would be operated from Jeddah airport. The return flights would start from January 4, 2007 and would be completed on February 3 next year, he added.
He informed that all the arrangements have been completed to facilitate intending pilgrims at the Hajji Camps, airports and after their arrival in Jeddah and Madinah. The arrangement have also been completed to ensure cleanliness, proper arrangement of sanitation, spray and availability of fire brigade at the Hajj Camp in Islamabad. The intending Hajj pilgrims have also been advised to report at the Hajj Camp three-day before departure of flights for vaccination and fulfilment of other required formalities.
Responding to a question about residential accommodation for the pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah, he said the Ministry has arranged the accommodation for all the intending pilgrims who would perform Hajj under the government scheme. "We have hired buildings in Makkah and Madinah for all the pilgrims who have opted for white and green residential categories under the government scheme," he added.
Khawas Khan Niazi said as many as 63,592 intending pilgrims will perform Hajj-2006 under government scheme. About 7,158 applicants who failed to get selected for Hajj in 2005 and 2006 have also been selected, he added. Khawas Khan Niazi informed that 3,500 intending pilgrims would be sent under the parliamentarian quota while upto 500 applicants were selected against labour quota and 150 applicants would perform Hajj against quota of Hajj Foundation.
Another 100 would be airlifted for the annual pilgrimage under UAE sponsorship scheme, he added. The first batch of medical mission and Khauddam ul Hajjaj would reach to Saudi Arabia before arrival of the intending pilgrims in the Holy land to facilitate them, he said.