JEDDAH, 13 November 2002 — India’s first Haj flight will arrive on Jan. 4 — the day the Haj Terminal opens for the annual pilgrimage. The Air-India flight will be from Lucknow and land around evening with 200 pilgrims.
Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air-India will operate in all 253 Haj flights to bring 70,000 Indian pilgrims of the Central Haj Committee (CHC) between Jan. 4 and Feb. 5. Of them, Saudia will carry 34,500 and A-I together with Indian Airlines will lift the remaining 35,500. Forty-five percent of CHC pilgrims are female.
Additionally 45,000 Indian pilgrims are expected to come through tour operators and other private arrangements from India and overseas, Consul General Syed Akbaruddin told a press conference here yesterday. Saudia will lift pilgrims from Ahmedabad, Bombay, Delhi and Hyderabad on its 121 flights.
Pilgrims from seven other destinations — Bangalore, Calcutta, Calicut, Lucknow, Madras, Bangalore, Srinagar, Lucknow, and Nagpur — a new destination added this time, will be flown in by Air-India and Indian Airlines, he said.
“This time we’re introducing a new Bihar destination for feeder service. That will be either Patna or Gaya. Pilgrims from there will join their counterparts in Calcutta heading for the Kingdom,” said Akbaruddin.
The consul general announced that the Indian pilgrim information database on the net is updated every 12 hours now as against every 24 hours last year.
Those intending to perform the Haj through the CHC can now obtain information about their dates of departure from India as well as dates of return and timing of flights on which they have been manifested to fly from various Indian destinations to the Kingdom.
The web-based database can be accessed at www.cgijeddah.com that provides all details at the click of a mouse, Akbaruddin said. “Pilgrims directly coming to and departing from Madinah are included in the database this year,” he said, adding that details of accommodation for all incoming pilgrims will be available on the web soon after their arrival.
This year about 115,000 Haj visas are being issued as against 110,000 last year. Visas will additionally be issued to 7,000 to 10,000 pilgrims coming through tour operators as against 7,000 last year.
