JEDDAH, 13 December 2005 — The operation of transporting Pakistani Haj pilgrims is going on smoothly, according to Shahnaz Shaikh, Pakistan International Airlines’ Jeddah station manager.
A total of 12 PIA flights are touching down daily at Jeddah and Madinah airports. Of these, three flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad are coming directly to Madinah, while nine flights from other parts of the country are arriving at Jeddah every day, said Shahnaz.
“PIA has scheduled three Boeing 747 Jumbo aircraft on its Madinah route. Each plane carries 456 pilgrims,” he added.
This year, 27,000 pilgrims from Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore are arriving directly to Madinah on 54 PIA flights.
About 16,258 pilgrims have arrived in Jeddah and 8,200 in Madinah, said Shahnaz, adding that five Airbus and four Jumbo planes have been pressed into service to carry pilgrims to Jeddah. Airbus’ capacity is 214 passengers. The PIA has also taken aircraft on lease in a bid to make the Haj operation smooth, he said.
Meanwhile, PIA’s Haj airfare is cheaper compared to many other airlines, said a PIA insider, adding that a Karachi-Jeddah return ticket costs Rs. 28,980 for government-sponsored pilgrims. It costs Rs.34,051 for pilgrims from other cities.
Shahnaz, a former Olympian and an almost unstoppable forward in his prime in the Pakistani hockey team, also talked about the Champions Trophy Tournament currently being played in the Indian city of Madras.
He was critical of both Pakistani and Indian hockey teams for their poor performances in the opening matches.
“Below par performances let both teams down. Pakistani players were not up to the mark. India, despite being hosts of the tournament, failed to capitalize on the advantage of playing on home ground,” said Shahnaz.
But the match on Sunday between the two archrivals made it clear that the chances of Pakistan finishing on the victory stand have faded as the Indians did well to win after being two goals down, he said.
