Jeddah: SpiceJet, India’s low-cost domestic airline, will join national carrier Air India, Saudi Arabiab AIrlines and Flynas in transporting Haj pilgrims this year, according to Indian Deputy Consul General and Haj Consul Mohammed Shahid Alam.
There will be 21 embarkation points for pilgrims. The national carrier, Air India, will transport pilgrims from 11 points while Saudi Arabian Airlines and Flynas will carry pilgrims from four points each, according to Saudi Gazette.
A total of 136,020 Indian pilgrims will perform Haj in the year 2016., for which preparations and arrangements are going on in full swing, said Alam.
SpiceJet, which is joining this year for the first time, will transport pilgrims from two points. Draft schedule has been submitted and it is in the process of approval by the General Authority of Civil Aviation and the Airport Authority of India.
"Those pilgrims who arrive in Jeddah will leave from Madinah and vice versa. No food will be served to pilgrims at their lodgings in Madinah, Alam said while pointing to the difficulties faced in the 11th hour during last Haj", Alam said.
“It was really a headache for the mission due to the failure on the part of caterers to provide food on time even after streamlining all the arrangements and preparations for Haj operation by the Indian mission", the consul said.
He said the experiment of uniform baggage that was introduced for Haj of 2015 had some flaws.
"There were difficulties in identification of baggage. There were cases of tags being missed or lost from some baggage and hence Hajis found it difficult to identify their baggage.
"There is also problem of space. Hajis can carry a maximum of 45 kg in two bags, each not exceeding 23 kg plus 10 kg in hand baggage. But some Hajis want to carry small bags. They don’t prefer uniform baggage. So the Indian Haj committee recommended that 2014 model standard baggage will be reinstated this year", the consul said.
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