Hajj pilgrims are facing flight delays lasting several hours at various airports, with their relatives unable to get accurate flight arrival information. Hajj pilgrims and their relatives complained that they had been facing numerous problems because of flights delays.
They said that they had to endure a delay of several hours at Jeddah airport, without anywhere for them to sit comfortably in the shade. "There was no official intimation about the flight delay...we were told about the situation after several hours," said family members of pilgrim Muhammad Roshan Khan who came to receive him and his wife. They said they had to wait for his arrival for more than four hours at the Benazir International Airport.
An official confirmed that first Pakistan International Airlines PIA Hajj flight PK-3406, carrying 450 pilgrims reached Islamabad on Friday after a four-hour delay. None of PIA Hajj flights has reached Pakistan on schedule, he said. He said that Jeddah-Karachi flight PK-732 was also delayed for four hours on Friday, but he did not know the reason for the long delay. Another Jeddah-Karachi flight (PK-3006) was five hours late and Jeddah-Lahore flight (PK-3206) also arrived three hours late.
Flights arriving at Peshawar airport were also late. Flight NL (Netherlands) 2107, carrying 325 pilgrims, arrived on Wednesday after a 24-hour delay, while NL 2103, with 350 passengers, was 25 hours late, the official pointed out. The official said that PIA carried 94,019 intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia with 82,823 via 196 pre-Hajj flights, and 1,989 through four charter flights from Yangon, Myanmar while, 9,207 travelled by PIA on regular scheduled flights.
He said that the airline will bring back 9,931 pilgrims to Karachi through 20 post-Hajj flights, 17,347 through 35 flights to Islamabad, 17,462 through 35 flights to Lahore and 14,292 Hajjis to Peshawar through 44 Post-Hajj flights. PIA will carry back 13,294 Hajjis to Quetta by 41 post-Hajj flights, 6,999 Hajjis to Multan by 14 flights and 3,498 Hajjis to Sialkot by 7 post-Hajj Flights.