First batch of Indian Haj pilgrims leaves Tuesday
October 19th, 2009 - 4:55 pm ICT by IANS ( Leave a comment )New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) The first batch of Indian Haj pilgrims will leave for Saudi Arabia Tuesday, beginning a two-and-a-half month operation during which over 123,000 Indian Muslims will perform the annual pilgrimage in the holy city of Makkah.
The first flight of the National Air Services of Saudi Arabia, carrying 250 passengers, will take off from the Delhi airport Tuesday morning and is scheduled to land at the Jeddah airport at 1 p.m.
Starting Tuesday, about a dozen flights will carry around 4,000 pilgrims a day till Nov 22 from 19 different Indian embarkation points. The Haj operation will conclude on Jan 1, 2010, according to the salient features for the pilgrimage approved by the union cabinet Monday.
Over 123,200 pilgrims will travel under the government subsidy scheme, while 45,000 pilgrims will travel through private tour operators.
The cabinet also approved two new embarkation points for this year in Ranchi and Mangalore.
The pilgrims would travel on Air India, Saudi Arabian Airline and National Air Services of Saudi Arabia.
- Three Indian Haj pilgrims die - Oct 07, 2011
- Over 23,000 Indians arrive in Saudi Arabia for Haj - Oct 05, 2011
- 16 Indian Haj pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia - Oct 14, 2011
- 19 Indian Haj pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia - Oct 15, 2011
- 13 Indian Haj pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia - Oct 12, 2011
- PM's intervention sought for Kashmir's Haj pilgrims - Oct 06, 2010
- Arrangements in place for Haj pilgrims: Civil aviation ministry - Sep 16, 2010
- 101,072 Indian Hajis reach Saudi Arabia - Oct 25, 2011
- Record number of Indian pilgrims head for Haj - Oct 12, 2010
- First flight of Haj pilgrims arrives in Srinagar - Nov 30, 2011
- Over 34,000 Indian Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia - Oct 08, 2011
- Andhra minister returns home after row over Saudi visit - Oct 22, 2010
- First Haj flight leaves Srinagar for Jeddah - Oct 20, 2009
- 615 tour operators get court nod for handling Haj pilgrims - Sep 21, 2010
- 244 Indian pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia - Jan 04, 2010
Tags: air india, delhi airport, dozen flights, embarkation, first flight, government subsidy, haj pilgrims, holy city, indian muslims, jeddah airport, New Delhi, pilgrimage, private tour operators, ranchi, salient features, saudi arabia, saudi arabian airline, subsidy scheme, tuesday morning, union cabinet
