Air India and Air India Express will carry thousands of Hajj Pilgrims from India from four cities. While Air India operated its first Hajj flight on May 21st, low-cost international airline Air India Express starts a day after on May 22nd. Air India has also assigned its widebody 787 for several of these flights.
Air India to operate flights from Jaipur and Chennai
Air India has scheduled 46 special Hajj flights out of India this year from Jaipur and Chennai to Medina and Jeddah, respectively. During the first phase, it will operate these flights from May 21st to June 21st, and during the second phase, it will bring those passengers back on 43 flights from July 3rd to August 2nd.
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The airline will fly a little over 10,000 passengers to Saudi Arabia with its Boeing 787 and Airbus 321neo aircraft. Campbell Wilson, CEO and MD, Air India, commented,
“Air India is happy to resume the annual special flights for the sacred Haj pilgrimage from the cities of Chennai and Jaipur while Air India Express will operate from Kozhikode and Kannur. Our collective effort with Air India Express is to provide unparalleled comfort and convenience to the passengers on this pilgrimage. We look forward to serving the pilgrims through our dedicated flights.”
Air India Express to operate flights from Kozhikode and Kannur
The low-cost carrier has chosen Kozhikode and Kannur, where it already has a strong presence, as its Hajj centers this year. The airline will deploy its Boeing 737 aircraft to operate 44 flights from Kozhikode to Jeddah - carrying 6,363 passengers, and 13 flights between Kannur and Jeddah, carrying 1,873 passengers during the first phase.
In all, the airline will fly 8,236 passengers in the first phase across 57 flights. In the second phase, which starts from July 13th to August 2nd, it will fly back the pilgrims from Medina to Kozhikode and Kannur. Aloke Singh, MD, Air India Express & AirAsia India, commented,
“We are happy to operate Hajj special flights from Kozhikode and Kannur, for the benefit of pilgrims from Kerala, in addition to our scheduled flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from Mumbai, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode and Kannur.”
More than 170,000 Hajj pilgrims from India in 2023
Saudi Arabia allocates quotas to each country every year to allow a certain number of people into the country. This year, India has been allowed to send 175,000 Hajj pilgrims, more than twice as much as last year, when India was given a quota of 80,000 pilgrims.
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More than 80% of Hajj pilgrims have been allocated to the Hajj Committee of India, while the rest have gone to private Hajj operators.
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