KARACHI, Nov 7: PIA operated 166 extra flights to Jeddah besides 316 scheduled flights carrying 130,000 Umra pilgrims from May 1 to Oct 31.

According to a PIA press release, capacity from outside sources was leased out to provide maximum convenience to intending pilgrims. The entire capacity floated was judiciously allocated to all domestic stations.

The hallmark of this year’s operation was the issuance of return advance boarding cards to Umra passengers thus omitting the requirement of reconfirmation in Saudi Arabia and passengers were saved from the inconvenience of queuing up at PIA offices for hours.

PIA offices in Saudi Arabia were beefed up with additional work force from Pakistan to handle upsurge in workload. Adequate aircraft capacity was deployed both ways to fully accommodate returning Umra loads.—APP