Saudi team to review preps for ‘Road to Makkah’

Delegation to help with the immigration clearance after scrutinising travel documents of Pakistani pilgrims

LAHORE:

A team from Saudi Arabia is scheduled to visit Jinnah International Airport on Thursday to review the process for the provision of immigration facilities to Pakistani pilgrims under the Road to Makkah project.

All preparations related to the visit of the Saudi delegation, which arrived in the country on Friday, have been completed. The team will help with the immigration clearance after scrutinising the travel documents of Pakistani pilgrims at the airport.

Sources said special counters will be set up at the airport under the project along with the installation of an exclusive immigration system connected to airports in Saudi Arabia to make air travel easier for pilgrims.

The officials are in the country to review customs and immigration counters and other facilities at airports for the expansion of the project.

On Sunday, the Saudi delegation arrived at the Islamabad airport after a visit to Lahore to review arrangements.

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Under the project, pilgrims from Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi will directly land at the Makkah airport and their luggage will directly be transported to their hotel destinations.

The Islamabad International Airport has already been enjoying the state-of-the-art facility since 2019. After the successful expansion of the project, the relevant authorities would complete the customs and immigration process, besides screening the pilgrims’ travel documents and luggage at the three airports. This exercise would help save approximately 10 to 12 hours of time at the Saudi airports.

The pilgrims will no longer be required to undergo customs checking at the Saudi airports.

Hajj operations did not take place for years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the “Road to Makkah” project — which has been initiated by Saudi Arabia to facilitate Muslim pilgrims — all immigration requirements are fulfilled at the airport of origin.

The project also includes other Muslim countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia.