Over 160,000 Pakistani pilgrims completed their Hajj and will return starting Thursday.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will bring the first group back. The carrier plans to return over 35,000 pilgrims via 171 flights.
PIA’s special flights will carry pilgrims from Jeddah and Medina to multiple Pakistani cities.
The first flight for Karachi lands at Jinnah International Airport at 1:40 pm today.
PIA and three private airlines will conduct these post-Hajj flights, landing in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Multan.
Today, over 2,000 pilgrims will return across various cities.
Three flights today will transport 850 pilgrims to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
Flight operations will extend to July 21, with the remaining 125,000 pilgrims returning via other airlines.
On Tuesday, pilgrims performed the Farewell Tawaf, concluding this year’s Hajj.
This year, Pakistan’s Hajj quota was 179,210, with over 70,000 pilgrims under a government scheme and others with private operators.
