Haj pilgrims from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will be able to take advantage of 13 flights from Hyderabad to Jeddah in February 2001, the airline has announced.
The first flight will leave Hyderabad at 7:10 p.m., local time, on February 14, and the last flight will leave on February 26. For the return of the pilgrims to Hyderabad, Air-India will operate flights from March 27 to April 8, with the flights leaving from Jeddah at 7 a.m., local time.
This new service by Air India will solve a long-time problem for Muslim pilgrims from the Indian state. Previously, they had had to travel to Bangalore to make a connection to Jeddah.
Nonetheless, with only a short runway at Hyderabad airport, Air-India will operate only 300-seater flights. There are plans to expand the runway of the airport from 2.73 km to 3.3 km, allowing wide-bodied aircraft such as Boeing 747s to use the facility. But these are awaiting approval. ¯ (Albawaba-MEBG)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
