The project, according to the officials, saw 7,174 passengers travel through immigration at the Islamabad airport before boarding 21 PIA aircraft for Saudi Arabia. After clearing immigration, 6,189 pilgrims departed on 17 Saudi Airlines aircraft, 10 flights operated by SereneAir, and 4 flights by Airblue.
3,714 pilgrims traveling for Hajj on private flights received immigration services in Pakistan, according to the government. After great anticipation, the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry in June unveiled the “Road to Makkah” project for the year 2022, which will assist Hajj pilgrims from Pakistan and five other nations.
The initiative, which this year also includes participation from Bangladesh, Morocco, Malaysia, and Indonesia, was originally introduced in 2019.
The effort, according to a June official statement from the Saudi government, aims to make it simple for the pilgrims to be received and to get the necessary paperwork out of their home countries.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador and minister for religious affairs, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, as well as the project’s representatives, Nawaf bin Saeed al-Maliki, expressed their satisfaction with the preparations made for the pilgrims at the Islamabad airport.
The project, according to the Saudi Gazette, begins with the electronic issuance of the visa and the collection of vital statistics, followed by passport procedures at the airport of the nation of departure following the verification of health standards.
To transfer the luggage to their residence in the kingdom, a process that is part of it entails coding and categorizing it.
When they arrive, it was said, the pilgrims would immediately board buses that will transport them along approved routes to Makkah and Madina, where they will live, while the service authorities bring their luggage to the residences.
