ISLAMABAD, Aug 22: Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal told the National Assembly on Friday that steps had been taken to ensure the timely arrival of pilgrims and to minimize the delays and inconvenience caused to them.

He was replying to a question by MNA Ishaq Khan Khakwani about delay in post Haj flights from Jeddah to various cities of the country, during the question hour.

The minister said 311 flights were operated in post-Haj period in the current year, out of which 243 operated on schedule and 68 were delayed.

He said out of these 68 flights, six got delayed due to technical reasons and the remaining 62 were delayed owing to late arrival of pilgrims from Makkah and Madina at Jeddah Haj Terminal.

He said frequent enroute breakdown of buses and airport infrastructure problems at Jeddah Haj Terminal caused invariable delays, adding that immigration procedure of pilgrims also took long time.

Mr Iqbal informed the House that to meet demands of increasing number of pilgrims every year, Pakistan International Airlines was making the most of its limited facilities at Jeddah Haj Terminal, which caused delay of flights.

He said the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Jeddah Immigration/Airport Authorities were always requested to take measures to avoid delays in Haj operations and assist PIA for on time departure of Haj flights. — APP