JEDDAH, 7 October — As many as 270,000 Iranian Umrah pilgrims are expected to visit the Kingdom this Hijrah year, according to Davood Keshavarzian, chairman and managing director of IranAir.
He told a press conference here yesterday that IranAir will operate 600 flights and Saudi Arabian Airlines 200 flights to transport 190,000 and 80,000 Umrah pilgrims respectively.
Keshavarzian is here for talks with top executives of Kanoo Travel, general sales agent of IranAir.
The IranAir chief said he expected some 80,000 Iranian pilgrims for Haj this Hijrah year. Under an agreement, IranAir and Saudia will operate Haj flights on a 50-50 basis to transport the pilgrims.
During his meeting with Saudi Civil Aviation Authority officials, Keshavarzian is expected to discuss prospects of operating direct flights to Madinah.
He said IranAir would like to resume flights to Dammam and increase its weekly flights to the Kingdom. The airline now operates one regular weekly flight and 28 chartered weekly flights to Jeddah from various Iranian cities to transport pilgrims.
Abdullah Abo Khamseen, general manager of Kanoo Travel, said there are plans to conduct package tour programs from the Kingdom to Iran in coordination with IranAir.
Esmaeil Rezaeian, IranAir manager for Saudi Arabia, said his airline had flown 10,500 Saudi tourists from Jeddah and Dammam to Iranian tourist destinations last summer. The airline owns a number of five-star hotels in various parts of the country to cater for the needs of tourists.
Rezaeian described Saudi Arabia as one of IranAir’s largest markets, in terms of pilgrim transportation. IranAir, with a 33-aircraft fleet, operates to 42 international and 24 domestic destinations.
