UAE’s Etihad to deploy 15 extra flights for haj pilgrims
UAE’s Etihad Airways will deploy additional flights between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia to meet the demand for the haj season, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The airline expects approximately 25,000 haj travelers on its flights this year, with most originating from Australia, Pakistan, Morocco, United Kingdom, India and Indonesia, travelling via Abu Dhabi.
The airline will operate fifteen extra flights between July 28 and August 25 to fly pilgrims to Medina.
Etihad will also operate six charter flights for the UAE’s General Authority of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Zayed Foundation and Abu Dhabi police between August 1 and 5, with return flights for August 16 and 17.
The airline’s return flights from Saudi Arabia allows haj pilgrims to carry a five-litre container of zamzam water.
This year's haj will start on August 9 and end on August 18.
More than 2 million are expected to perform the pilgrimage this year. Last year 2.37 million pilgrims congregated in Saudi Arabia for the haj, with around 75 percent coming from abroad.
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