ISLAMABAD: Over 19,000 Pakistani pilgrims have arrived in the holy city of Madinah for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Pakistan's religion ministry said on Sunday, as the South Asian country continues its Hajj flight operation to the kingdom.
The Hajj is an annual spiritual pilgrimage that each Muslim adult, male or female, is required to undertake at least once in their lifetime if they are financially capable and physically able to do so. The pilgrimage is undetaken during the month of Dhu Al-Hijjah. For this year's Hajj, Saudi Arabia has restored Pakistan's pre-pandemic coronavirus Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims and waved off the upper age limit of 65.
Hajj flights from Pakistan departed for the kingdom last week. Around 80,000 Pakistani pilgrims are expected to perform the pilgrimage this year under the government scheme, while the rest will be facilitated by private tour operators, according to authorities.
"Over 19,000 pilgrims have arrived in Madinah," a spokesperson for Pakistan's Ministry of Religious and Interfaith Affairs said in a statement. "Today, on May 28, 3,100 pilgrims arrived in Madinah on 14 flights."
The spokesperson said 773 Pakistani pilgrims, who arrived in Madinah via the first three flights last week, will be transported to Makkah on Monday. He added that all pilgrims who arrive in Madinah before Hajj commences would be taken to Makkah after an eight-day stay in the city as known as the "City of the Prophet."
"Direct flights from Pakistan to Jeddah would begin from June 4," the spokesperson said, adding that a team of 207 Hajj facilitators comprising staff members and officers is deployed in Makkah, Madinah, and Jeddah.
"A team of 137 doctors and paramedical staff are also on duty to provide medical facilities to Hajj pilgrims," he added.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s religious affairs minister Senator Talha Mahmood and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki also formally launched the Makkah Route Initiative to facilitate over 26,000 Pakistani pilgrims at the Islamabad airport.
Under the scheme, Hajj pilgrims go through the immigration process at the airports of their own countries before departing for Saudi Arabia.
The last flight carrying Pakistani pilgrims would leave for Saudi Arabia on June 21, according to the Pakistani religious affairs ministry.
