KARACHI: Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport has joined the Makkah Road project, marking a major development to ease the journey of pilgrims to the holy city.
With this initiative, pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and Hajj will go through seamless immigration procedures upon arrival at Jeddah and Madinah airports, eliminating the need for immigration checks. Instead, the immigration process will be handled by Saudi officials at the Karachi airport.
For this effort, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has provided space for two immigration counters specifically for Saudi immigration at the Karachi airport.
The first flight of the Makkah Road project will depart from Karachi on May 9, said Gulzar Soomro, director of Hajj in Karachi. He further said that the project accommodated 16,281 pilgrims from Karachi and an additional 1,000 pilgrims from Sukkur under the government scheme.
He also announced that 2,200 pilgrims from Quetta would travel from Karachi as part of the road to Mecca project.
Showing the government’s commitment to the well-being of pilgrims, the Hajj director said the government will cover the costs of plastic covers for the property of pilgrims and the government’s costs to ensure the safety and security of their property during their journey.
