JEDDAH, 31 December 2007 — The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is maintaining its schedule of special flights from the Haj Terminal to various destinations in Pakistan despite violence in the country in the wake of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination.
“Our Haj operations are not at all affected. We are operating a daily schedule of 12 Haj flights and there have been no cancellations,” Shahnaz Shaikh, PIA’s station manager, told Arab News.
PIA’s first return flight carrying 433 pilgrims from Jeddah arrived at Lahore Airport on Tuesday, two days before the assassination. About 106,500 Pakistani pilgrims performed Haj this year and are returning through 83 special PIA flights.
The return of the pilgrims will continue until Jan. 24. PIA has achieved an overall 94 percent punctuality in its Haj operations.
A Saudi travel agent currently in Lahore told Arab News over the phone that all domestic and international flights of PIA resumed operations and there had been no cancellations. “There were some disruptions soon after Benazir’s assassination,” he said, adding that minor delays were experienced due to crew and staff reporting late and passengers checking in late because of logistical and transport-related snags in Lahore and elsewhere.
“Two flights operated by different international carriers for Karachi from the Kingdom were canceled on Friday due to security considerations,” he said.
Abdullah Mirghalani, director of Haj Administration in Jeddah and supervisor of the Haj Terminal of King Abdul Aziz International Airport, said pilgrim flights were leaving according to schedule without problems. He added that no crowding had been observed at the Haj Terminal.
“More than 200 flights would be leaving the King Abdul Aziz International Airport daily until Jan. 24 by which date all the pilgrims who came by air would have left the country,” he said.
Airport officials blamed domestic and Gulf pilgrims without confirmed reservations for crowding at the airport lounges. “The crowding at the lounges are caused largely by pilgrims, who rush to the airport without reservations,” said Abdullah Ruhaimy, chairman of the General Authority for Civil Aviation.
“Various official agencies are coordinating to ensure that pilgrims arrive at the airport only after confirming their departure schedule. Tawafa agents are directed not to bring pilgrims to the airport unless they have confirmed tickets,” he said.
“Some foreign aircraft may be arriving late at the airport. For instance, flights to European and Central Asian countries can only operate at fixed times as long as the weather conditions in their countries are appropriate for safe navigation. Tawafa organizations can verify in advance whether such flights have arrived and then arrange for their pilgrims to come to the airport at the appropriate time,” Ruhaimy added.
Over 6,000 pilgrims are due to leave for Egypt and Sudan from the Jeddah Islamic Port on schedules prepared by the Ministry of Haj.
Fahd Al-Odwan, director of the Center for Pilgrims Traveling by Sea in Jeddah, said the ships have been specially designated for Haj pilgrims and that overstayers would not be allowed passage. “Only Haj pilgrims will be allowed to travel on board these vessels. There will be two to three ships leaving each day,” Al-Watan newspaper quoted Al-Odwan as saying.
