JEDDAH, 21 December 2004 — All arrangements are in place to ensure smooth Haj operation and pre-empt any chaos, Lt. Col. (Retd.) Talat Umar, country manager of PIA for Saudi Arabia and Yemen, told a press conference here on Sunday. Pakistan International Airlines flew in 18,000 pilgrims by last night — part of 150,000 pilgrims coming to perform Haj this year.
PIA began its pre-Haj operation on Dec. 15 that will last until Jan. 15. The post-Haj operation is slated to begin on Jan. 25 that will continue till Feb. 24.
A fleet of 425 aircraft will be pressed into service to airlift the pilgrims.
Out of 150,000 pilgrims this year, 95,000 will be coming through the government while 45,707 will be brought in by private tour operators. PIA flights carrying pilgrims from different Pakistani embarkation points will touch down every two hours. Some 6,551 pilgrims have been moved to Madinah to pray at the Prophet’s Mosque.
“PIA is carrying pilgrims at highly subsidized fares,” Umar said. Four additional aircraft from Orient and Thai Airways have been leased for the purpose, he added.
Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta are the main embarkation points. Passengers from Multan and Sukkur will be brought by the airline’s domestic network to Karachi and those from Faisalabad to Lahore before flying them for Haj. The number of pilgrims from Karachi is 43,727, Islamabad 26,460, Lahore 34,334, Peshawar 19,170 and from Quetta 9,720.
Around 400 to 500 people have been hired from Pakistan to assist in the Haj operation, he said.
The main control center has been set up at PIA’s Jeddah office that will act as the nerve center drawing support from three more control centers to be set up at the Haj terminal in Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah, Umar said. PIA staff members will coordinate with Shahid Khan, director general Haj, in handling day-to-day affairs, including seat reservation. All pilgrims traveling by PIA have reconfirmed seats.
About the problems during Umrah, when hundreds of visitors were stranded at the airport due to non-availability of seats, Umar admitted that lack of proper prior planning was one of the factors, but stressed that the arrival of over 100 percent Umrah pilgrims this year coupled with the pilgrims’ intention to travel at a specific time — three to four days before Eid — compounded the problem. He also blamed the private tour operators for the problems.
“Most of the people want to stay here till the 27th of Ramadan and want to celebrate Eid in Pakistan with their relatives. You can imagine the problem when thousands of people want to travel during these three or four days.
“Private tour operators also created problems by issuing fake stickers showing confirmed seats. When people visited the PIA office for reconfirmation, they found to their dismay that their seats were not confirmed,” he said.
“We coped with the situation in the best possible manner and our staff worked day and night to overcome the problem,” Umar said.
Asked about the arrival of a large number of Umrah passengers this time, he said that was because visas were issued in excess of the original quota. The initial agreement with the Kingdom was for 25,000 visas before Eid, but on our request the Kingdom agreed to issue 37,000 visas. “But, about 62,000 Umrah visitors came, which is 100% more than last year,” Umar said.
Some 120,000 Pakistanis performed Umrah during the year, which is a record, he said.
Some major steps are being taken to overcome such problems in the future. From next year a plan is under study to issue return boarding cards in advance.
Umar said PIA Chairman Ahmad Saeed has agreed to “our suggestions to resolve such problems in future.”
PIA will allow each pilgrim to carry 35 kg of luggage and SR50 will be charged on an excess luggage of 10 kg. Beyond that normal rate will be charged for excess baggage.
He said each male pilgrim is being given ihram and umbrella, while female pilgrims are given umbrellas and abayas.
Answering a question, he said: “In case a pilgrim wants he can switch over to normal flight from Haj flight by paying SR575. Any flight carrying over 50 percent pilgrims is declared Haj flight and lands at Haj Terminal, Jeddah.
Speaking about the financial position of the airline, Umar said PIA was not in a position four years back to pay salary to its staff while now it is posting huge profit. “Year 2003 was a record in terms of profit,” he said.
