JEDDAH, 17 September — The number of Pakistani pilgrims coming for the next Haj will total 110,000. Saudi Arabian Airlines will transport 15,000 of them and Pakistan International Airlines the rest, Tariq Hasan Bukhari, PIA country manager for Saudi Arabia and Yemen, stated yesterday.
Pakistan’s national airline operated 350 Haj return flights during last year’s pilgrimage and recorded that 96 percent of them were punctual.
“The framework will be the same this time too,” Bukhari told Arab News during a ceremony at Al-Salam Holiday Inn hotel where he distributed certificates to 13 travel agencies and four cargo agents for supporting the airline in the past year.
“What helped us in achieving a high punctuality rate and extend better passenger service and comfort was the remote bay facility extended to us by the local authorities,” he said.
“This was of great help in enhancing passenger convenience and also quicker aircraft turnarounds.”
PIA is expected to add its 12th weekly flight from Jeddah in the upcoming winter schedule, which will fly to Faisalabad. The existing 11 weekly flights from King Abdul Aziz International Airport are operated to Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. The airline also operates five other flights every week from Riyadh and may add a sixth flight effective this winter.
Seven more flights are operated weekly from King Fahd International Airport to various Pakistani destinations. Saudia is at present operating about the same number of flights to Pakistan as PIA’s 23 every week.
“Our proposal to operate two additional flights from the Kingdom follows a bilateral arrangement in which Saudia will enhance its frequencies to Pakistan by three flights, one each from Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province,” Bukhari said.
Asked about the possible impact of the developments in the US on the aviation industry worldwide, Bukhari said: “Most of the European and Far East airlines depend on America for a major portion of their revenue. The Gulf is a major revenue yielding sector for Southeast Asian airlines, especially PIA.”
The Travel agencies who received certificates were AMB, Airwings, Tamara, Jouf, Caravan, STATCO, Attar, Al-Hamra, Foudia, Rainbow, Majed, Saudi Travel and Al-Habash. The cargo agents honored were Farnas, Al-Amas, STTB and Al-Hamra.
PIA Western Province Manager Imtiaz A. Bhutto made introductory remarks. Those present included PIA’s Finance Manager Ibrahim Hasnain and Station manager M. Hassan. — K.S. Ramkumar
