The Hajj flight operation for Pakistani pilgrims is going to conclude today (Thursday) as all 179,210 pilgrims have been flown to Saudi Arabia through special flights by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Airblue, Shaheen and Saudi Airlines. Deputy Director Media of Ministry of Religious Affairs, Imran Bashir Khan told Business Recorder that airfare for all the pilgrims had been divided into two zones, northern areas and southern areas, to facilitate the pilgrims.
The airfare for the northern areas, which include Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan and Sialkot, is Rs 95,300 and for southern areas, which include Karachi and Sukkur, is Rs 86,000 for all the flights including PIA, Airblue, Shaheen and Saudi Airlines. Khan said more than 65,000 Hajj pilgrims had been airlifted to Saudi Arabia through PIA, while remaining pilgrims were departed through special Hajj flights of Airblue, Shaheen and Saudi Airlines.
He said the Ministry of Religious Affairs allotted a major share of Hajj flights to the PIA as it got its major share of profit each year from Hajj flights, but at the same time it did not have capacity to fly all the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia in-time. The Ministry allotted the remaining Hajj flights quota equally to the Airblue, Shaheen and Saudi Airlines, he said, adding the pilgrims were charged the same fare whether they flew through the PIA or other private airlines.
This year a total of 179,210 Pakistanis will perform Hajj according to the quota approved by the Saudi government, while 107,526 persons out of them will go for Hajj under the government scheme and the remaining will embark on the journey through private Hajj tour operators.
The government scheme also includes Qurbani (sacrifice of animal) arrangements through Office of Pilgrim Affairs of Pakistan (OPAP) and the price of each sacrificial animal is fixed at Rs 13,050 (non-refundable). The Qurbani coupons will be delivered to pilgrims before Mina movement. The return Hajj flights will start from September 6 and will continue till October 6, 2017.
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