JEDDAH, 6 January 2004 — Foreign airlines will be allowed to operate Haj flights to Madinah for the first time this year, it was announced yesterday.
“The move aims at facilitating the travel of pilgrims by making better use of available resources,” said Abdul Fatah Atta, director general of the airport.
Previously, pilgrims from abroad landed at airports in Riyadh or Jeddah and traveled to Makkah and Madinah overland. Makkah has no airport.
More than 30,000 pilgrims already arrived at Madinah airport on 90 flights from different countries over the past 10 days, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Madinah airport will see 15 to 30 Haj flights daily until Jan. 26, the last date for pilgrim arrivals by plane, Atta said. He expects some 800 Haj flights to arrive at the airport carrying 250,000 pilgrims.
Saudi Arabian Airlines, the national carrier, said yesterday it expected to transport more than 921,000 pilgrims from 68 stations on 3,107 flights this year.
More than 2.5 million Muslims from around the world are expected to take part in the Haj, which starts Jan. 30.
King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah is the main gateway for pilgrims as it receives about 80 percent of pilgrims from the Kingdom and abroad.
According to SPA, 1.24 million pilgrims will arrive at the airport this year.
The opening of Madinah airport for foreign Haj flights will ease pressure on Jeddah’s airport, which is to undergo a major expansion to accommodate 21 million passengers. The airport’s Haj terminal, capable of serving more than a million pilgrims at a time, handles about 300 flights a day during the peak Haj season.
