‘It will bring down cost, will provide relief to pilgrims’
By: Mubashir Aalam Wani
Srinagar, Mar 16: Jammu and Kashmir Association of Hajj and Umrah Companies (JKAHUC) on Wednesday demanded direct flight from Srinagar to Jeddah for Umrah and Hajj pilgrims.
Addressing a presser here, JKAHUC president Pervez Ahmed said that there is a huge demand from pilgrims intending to perform Hajj or Umrah to have a direct flight from Srinagar Airport to Jeddah.
He said that though Umrah services have been resumed by Saudi Arabia but there are Covid regulations and SOPs to be followed by pilgrims. All these measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid have resulted in cost escalation.
Amid this, according to him, lack of direct flight connectivity from Srinagar Airport to Jeddah is causing trouble to pilgrims as well as making the pilgrimage expensive. Currently, pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir have to take an international flight for Saudi Arabia from New Delhi or Mumbai airports.
“Under these circumstances, the revival of the outbound pilgrim travel from J&K is a challenging task. But the members of JKAHUC are fully determined to put their best foot forward in this direction and bring pilgrim travel to its original glory,” added spokesperson. (KNO)
