JEDDAH, 17 December 2004 — The first batch of 270 Pakistani pilgrims arrived here yesterday from Islamabad by a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight.
Masood Akhtar, consul general of Pakistan; Shahid Khan, director general, Haj; Bahrullah Hazarvi, director, Haj; Sohail Ali Khan, press attache; Col. (Retd) Talat Umar, PIA general manager, and senior officials of the Ministry of Haj received the pilgrims.
Muhammad Qayyum and Anwari Begum of Rawalpindi were the first pilgrims to come out after immigration clearance. Both were offered bouquets of flowers.
In his welcoming address to the pilgrims, the consul general told them to abide by Saudi Arabia’s laws and regulations.
Talat Umar said 14 Haj flights will operate daily including regular flights direct from Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Quetta and Peshawar.
Manzoor-ul-Hassan, former Olympian and captain of Pakistan hockey team and presently working as station manager and in-charge of flight operations, Jeddah, said PIA will conclude Haj operations within 30 days. A total of 150,000 Pakistanis will perform Haj this year.
Saudi Arabian Airlines will be carrying 10,000 pilgrims from Pakistan and the rest will be carried by PIA.
