First Hajj flight to take off from Karachi at wee hours on Sunday: Talha.

ISLAMABAD -- Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Senator Muhammad Talha Mahmood on Saturday informed that the first Hajj flight would take off from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi at 0450 hours on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference here, he said almost 175,000 people would proceed for spiritual journey to perform Hajj rites this year on both government and private schemes.

The minister further informed that the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony had refunded Rs55,000 as 'Qurbani amount' to both regular and sponsorship scheme pilgrims in their bank accounts.

He explained that earlier it was decided that the ministry would arrange Qurbani (sacrifice) for the pilgrims but due to delay in the decision, the majority of pilgrims had arranged this sacred rite on their own.

Talha advised the pilgrims of both regular and sponsorship schemes to collect Rs55,000 from their respective banks before their departure for Hajj as the same would not be reimbursed to them in Saudi Arabia.

He said the Saudi government-run Qurbani booths would be available near government residences, providing a hassle-free process for purchasing the coupons.

"In the event of any issues or difficulties in acquiring the Qurbani amount, the complaint could be lodged with the accounts officer of the ministry directly at 0519208552," he added.

The minister said this year more than 26,000 pilgrims would benefit from the 'Road to Makkah' project from the Islamabad International Airport, a notable increase from the 16,000 pilgrims served last year.

He said this efficient facility aimed at streamlining the immigration and customs procedures for the intending pilgrims departing from the federal capital, enabling them to swiftly...