February 5, 2003	Wednesday	Zul Hijjah 3,1423

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RAWALPINDI, Feb 4: Thirteen Haj flights, originally scheduled to depart for Saudi Arabia from Peshawar, were operated from Islamabad airport owing to foggy weather during the pre-Haj operation which concluded here on Tuesday, officials said.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the officials said, had contingency plans for handling Haj flights originating from Lahore and Peshawar at Islamabad airport because of foggy conditions at these stations.

However, no flight from Lahore had to be operated from Islamabad.

A CAA meeting held here to review post-Haj operation, starting from February 15, prepared contingency plans for handling flights for Lahore and Peshawar at Islamabad airport, if needed. However, weather during March and later part of February is unlikely to affect the flights schedule.

The meeting, the officials said, finalized security arrangements for handling the rush at the time of arrival of pilgrims. They said the CAA had sought special assistance from the law-enforcement agencies and armed forces, which was in addition to the existing security system.

They said, this year, the barbed wire at the airport had been replaced by barriers. When asked about the need for such barriers, they said it was necessary a large number of people throng the airport to receive their relatives, creating administrative and security problems for the management.

The CAA officials said they had finalized coordination with the local authorities to regulate traffic near airport during post-Haj operation.

Giving details of the pre-Haj operation, the officials said over 25,000 pilgrims used the airport for embarking on Haj. They said 22,384 pilgrims were originally planned to use the airport for this year’s Haj.

The national flag carrier, they said, operated two less flights during the pre-Haj season. The PIA had planned to fly 48 flights, but flew 46 flights. Saudi Airlines operated all four flights.

APP ADDS: The post-Haj special flight operation will conclude on March 18. Two flights will be operated on daily basis till March 4, after which there will be one flight daily from the holy land till March 18. This time, the PIA has made special arrangements to supply “Abe-Zam-Zam” to each Haji on his return at Islamabad airport.