Jeddah : The first Haj flight arrived in Jeddah from Peshawar on Sunday carrying pilgrims under the official Government of Pakistan Scheme.
The pilgrims were received by Charge d’Affaires at Pakistan embassy Khayyam Akbar. He was accompanied by Aftab Khokhar, consul general in Jeddah, and Syed Abu Ahmad Akif, director general of Haj Affairs. The flight marked the beginning of the official Haj operation for 2014 in which 56,684 pilgrims under the official government scheme will arrive on 191 flights via 10 gateways in Pakistan. Aside from the government scheme, another 86,684 pilgrims will come through nearly 730 private Haj organizations in Pakistan, bringing the total number of pilgrims to 143,368 to perform Haj this year.
A total of 108 buildings have been rented in Madinah at the rate of SR500 per person for a stay of eight days for pilgrims under the government scheme. This year, 80 percent of the Pakistani pilgrims will stay in the Markazia or central area of Madinah. These pilgrims will also enjoy the facility of the Mashair train in addition to the food catering which will be provided throughout their stay. In order to make the inter-city journey more comfortable for the pilgrims, they will be provided with a fleet of buses with models of 2012 and later. They will also have access to the toll free number 800 11 666 22.