Pakistan, Saudi Arabia agree to extend ‘Road to Makkah’ project to Karachi

KARACHI: The governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have agreed to fulfill all the requirements at the earliest to implement the Road to Makkah project at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

The ‘Road to Makkah’ Initiative, an integral part of Saudi Arabia’s Guests of God Service Program, aims to diversify the kingdom’s economy and under this, pilgrims undergo immigration procedures at their respective countries’ airports.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs had previously expressed intentions to expand the Makkah Route Initiative to airports in cities besides Islamabad, with Karachi notably in the spotlight; the facility is only available at the Islamabad International Airport at the moment.

According to the CAA, Pakistani Hajj pilgrims might be spared the immigration process at Jeddah airport after completing the procedure at Lahore and Karachi airports under the initiative for this year’s pilgrimage.

As far as this year’s Hajj is concerned, the total number of seats allocated to Pakistan for the upcoming Hajj is around 180,000 but these include the seats allocated to the private Hajj operators also.

To attract the applicants, the government had also permitted those who had performed Hajj in the last 5 years to apply for the upcoming Hajj. The authorities have introduced the Short Hajj package for the pilgrims while the Sponsorship Scheme is also valid for this year as well.

As far as the Long Hajj is concerned, it would encompass 38-42 days with 8 days stay in Medinah and those flying from the South region i.e. Karachi, and Sukkhur would have to pay Rs 10,65,000 while those from other cities i.e. Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabad would pay Rs 10,75,000.

For Sponsorship scheme applicants, the cost is $3765 for the South Region while it is $ 3800 for the North Region for those opting for the Long Hajj package.

For the Short Hajj package, the cost for regular Hajj applicants is Rs 11,40,000 for the South region while the cost is Rs 11,50,000 for the North region; the Hajj would continue for 20-25 days under this scheme.

For the Sponsorship Scheme, the cost for Short Hajj is USD 4015 for the South region and $ 4050 for the North region.