Pakistan begins post-Hajj flight operations bring back 83,000 pilgrims

Islamabad: Pakistan started its month-long post-Hajj flight operations to bring back over 83,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia late on Thursday, officials confirmed.

Pakistan’s national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) began its Hajj flight operation on July 14, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, told reporters. “The PIA’s post-Hajj-flight operation will continue from July 14 to August 13,” he said.

“PIA will bring back over 28,000 pilgrims to Pakistan via more than 154 post-Hajj flights,” Khan said. PIA’s post-Hajj-flight operation will continue from July 14 to August 13.

The first flight PK-732 from Jeddah would land at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi while the second flight PK-739 would arrive at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore the same day. As many as five flights will reach Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Islamabad and Peshawar on July 14, the spokesman said.

PIA has introduced the city check-in facility for the first time which would facilitate pilgrims with their boarding cards and baggage before arriving at the airport. “The initiative would save the pilgrims several hours as they previously had to arrive at the airport 12 hours before their flight departure.

More than 83,000 Pakistani pilgrims participated in Hajj this year. Around one million pilgrims, including 850,000 from abroad, performed Hajj after two years of pandemic restrictions.

Pakistan’s pandemic response body, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), has issued directives for mandatory rapid antigen testing (RAT) of pilgrims returning from Hajj. The precautions have been taken to limit the risk of transmission involved in mass gatherings, rising disease prevalence globally, and rising COVID-19 cases in Pakistan. The testing would be conducted at Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Multan airports