JEDDAH, 6 February — New arrangements are being made for pilgrims coming from the earthquake devastated western Indian state of Gujarat. With the cancellation of Haj charters from the provincial capital of Ahmedabad, the state Haj committee is making arrangements in cooperation with the Central Haj Committee to reschedule the flights.
Seven charter flights from Ahmedabad to Jeddah remain canceled between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7, following the massive earthquake that hit the region on Jan. 26. "With flights being rescheduled from Feb. 9, all pilgrims from the state will be accommodated," an Air-India spokesman told Arab News yesterday.
The airline is organizing 32 extra flights in addition to about 160 Haj charters, S.M. Mazharullah, Air-India's manager for the Western province, said. The charters from other Indian embarkation points like Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Lucknow, Cochin, Bangalore and Hyderabad have been arriving on schedule.
In all, 112,000 Indians will perform Haj this time, 72,000 of them through the Haj Committee and the rest with the help of tour operators. Saudi Arabian Airlines is also transporting Indian pilgrims this year.
Meanwhile, Haj charters have also started coming from Greece. The Olympic Airways is operating two Haj charters weekly-- Sundays and Tuesdays -- for pilgrims coming from Athens, according to George Meintanis, the new area manager for the Kingdom, Bahrain and Yemen. An estimated 4,500 pilgrims are flying in from the Greek capital on those flights for the annual pilgrimage.
