January 2, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 28, 1423

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RAWALPINDI, Jan 1: Pilgrims travelling by Pakistan International Airlines wouldn’t be allowed to bring Aab-i-Zam Zam while returning after Hajj, said Airlines General Manager Public Relations Imran Gardezi here on Wednesday.

Talking to newsmen here after a briefing held for chairman PIA on Hajj operations, he said: “We would instead provide Aab-i- Zam Zam to them at the airport on arrival.”

PIA would deliver a total volume of 1.25 million litres of Aab-i-Zam Zam to the returning pilgrims.

Replying to a question about the arrangements for transporting such a huge amount of Aab-i-Zam Zam for the pilgrims, he said, the empty PIA jets returning back to the country after leaving the pilgrims in Saudi Arabia during pre-Hajj operation would carry the sacred water.

PIA would be operating 41 per cent more flights for Hajj this year as compared to the last pilgrimage season, Mr Gardezi said.

He said the national flag carrier would in all operate 620 flights.

The airline having a total fleet of 46 aircraft would use 14 exclusively for Hajj operation. Most of these planes are A-300 airbuses. Infact, all the eight airbuses have been dedicated for Hajj — six have been fully converted into economy class, while the other two would have dual consideration. The airline would also bring some of the 747 Boeings into use for carrying the pilgrims.

However, the airline may not be able to handle the entire Hajj load by itself and has leased an A-310 plane from Turkey for this operation. The number of pilgrims travelling to the Holy land by air has increased by 29,000. This year 125,000 will fly to Saudi Arabia, while last year this number stood at 96,000.

Talking about arrangements in Saudi Arabia for facilitating the passengers, he said, the airline would operate 12 remote counters there.

Regarding the financial aspect, he said, the chairman was informed at the briefing that PIA would be able to break even. “However, there are chances that there might be a slight loss,” he cautioned.

He said the airline would gift a set of pilgrimage dress (Ehram for men and Abaya for women) to all the passengers.