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MUMBAI, Dec. 30

NEARLY 71,500 pilgrims will be transported by air to Jeddah for the Haj pilgrimage. The transfers will take place between January 4 and February 5 from 12 cities, Gaya and Nagpur being the two new uplift points this year.

According to a press release, Air India will operate 94 flights with wide-bodied aircraft to transport about 30,560 pilgrims from six cities — Bangalore, Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Nagpur.

While Indian Airlines will operate 37 flights from Srinagar flying 7,900 pilgrims, Saudi Arabian Airlines will operate 115 flights, flying approximately 33,000 pilgrims from Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

In addition, Indian Airlines will fly 1,575 pilgrims from Gaya to Kolkata, where they will board AI's service to Jeddah, the release said. AI will operate its own aircraft to ensure timely arrivals and departures.

According to the release, control cells that will co-ordinate reservations, ticketing and airport handling have been set up at all the embarkation stations in the country and at also Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia. This year, pilgrims will also have remote check-in facilities at Bangalore, Chennai, Kozhikode, Lucknow and Hyderabad. This will enable the pilgrims to complete immigration and Customs formalities at a point away from the airport, so that they can board the plane with their hand baggage on arrival at the airport, it said.

The return flights will be operated between February 15 and March 16.

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