Pakistan’s national airline announces direct Umrah flights from Quetta, Faisalabad to Jeddah

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national flag carrier announced on Thursday it would operate direct Umrah flights from the country’s Quetta and Faisalabad cities to Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah in a bid to facilitate pilgrims in the two cities. 
Thousands of Pakistanis travel to Saudi Arabia each month to visit the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah for the Umrah pilgrimage. Umrah is a voluntary Islamic pilgrimage to the Islamic sites in Saudi Arabia. A shorter version of the Hajj, it is voluntary and can be performed throughout the year. 
“PIA has announced direct flights from Quetta and Faisalabad to Jeddah on the strong insistence of pilgrims,” a spokesperson of the airline said in a statement. 
“Direct flights from Faisalabad and Quetta will be operated from August 6.”
The national airline’s spokesperson said two flights each from Quetta and Faisalabad to Jeddah would be operated per week. 
Balochistan Governor Sheikh Jafar Khan Mandokhail thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for backing the initiative. 
He said people in Balochistan previously had to travel to Karachi two days in advance to avail a direct Umrah flight to Saudi Arabia. Mandokhail said direct flights from Quetta to Jeddah will facilitate Baloch pilgrims in their travel. 
“And when they [passengers from Balochistan] returned they had to stay for a couple of days in Karachi to wait for a flight or another mode of transportation to return [to Balochistan],” he said.