Madinah: The first Indian Haj flight carrying 283 pilgrims from Hyderabad arrived in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, May 9, to perform the annual pilgrimage.
The pilgrims were received at the Prince Mohammed International Airport by India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan and Consul General of India (CGI) Mohd Shahid Alam and other officials.
From the Saudi side, Saleh bin Nasser Al Jasser, minister of transport and logistics service, Dr. Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman Mashat, vice minister of Haj and Umrah and other senior officials were present.
Upon arrival, they were presented with flowers, dates and Zamzam water bottles upon arrival.
Al-Jasser said that 7,700 flights will arrive through six airports during the Hajj season, with more than 27,000 buses in service, while the high-speed Al-Haramain and Al-Mashaer trains will provide more than 5,000 trips, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
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On Wednesday evening, May 8, the inaugural batch of Haj pilgrims of Telangana state were given a warm farewell at Haj House in Nampally.
As many as 1,75,025 Indian pilgrims will visit Saudi Arabia under the Haj quota this year. In 2023, 1.40 lakh Indian pilgrims performed the annual pilgrimage.
Haj, is expected to begin on June 14. However, the date is subject to change pending an official announcement by the Saudi Arabia moon sighting committee in the days leading up to the Haj.
