First Haj flight from India arrives in Madinah

Jeddah: The first Haj flight from India carrying 235 pilgrims has arrived in Madinah in Saudi Arabia.

Air India flight AI 5001 arrived on Wednesday at Prince Mohammad International Airport in Madinah from Kolkata.

The pilgrims were received at the Prince Mohammad International Airport by Hamid Ali Rao, India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, B.S. Mubarak, Consul General of India, Jeddah and other officials.

From the Saudi side, officials from Ministry of Haj, General Authority of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority were present.

All pilgrims were provided Saudi SIM cards at their embarkation points in India.

The pilgrims who arrived by the first flight have been sent to their accommodations, India’s consulate in Jeddah said in a statement.

Of the 136,020 Indian pilgrims arriving this year, 100,020 would be coming through the Haj Committee of India.

Saudi Arabian Airlines will carry 49,230 while Air India will transport 50,790 from 21 embarkation points.

The remaining 36,000 pilgrims will come through private tour operators.