Maharashtra, Mar 26 (ANI): Aeroplanes halt at the runway of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport as all flights have been cancelled during the lockdown announced for entire country in Mumbai on Thursday. (ANI Photo)
Nagpur: The Haj flights from all three embarkation points (EPs) — Nagpur, Mumbai and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) — in Maharashtra are likely to fly out starting May 26 and transport an estimated 36,000 pilgrims to Jeddah. The flights to reach Jeddah will end by June 9.
For Haj pilgrims from Nagpur city, four flights in batches of two each are tentatively planned on May 28 and 31 from Nagpur International Airport. The return trips are tentatively planned from July 6 to 9 for Nagpur EP. For passengers from elsewhere, the return flights would be between July 1 and 21.
Pilgrims who start from Mumbai would shell out the lowest airfare Rs 3,21,150 followed by Rs 3,42,100 for Nagpur passengers, and Rs 4,07,200 from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar for the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Sambhajinagar EP’s cost is the highest in the country.
Today’s Rate
Saturday 23 Nov. 2024
All pilgrims would be required to pay around Rs 2.51 lakh in the first instalment while the balance would be recovered as per EP in the second phase. Around Rs 15,000 is also being charged towards qurbani (animal sacrifice).
The unequal pricing introduced by Haj Committee of India (HCI) last year had baffled pilgrims, who had moved the High Court seeking change in EP but couldn’t get respite. In Haj 2023, pilgrims choosing Mumbai as EP had incurred a total of Rs 3.03 lakh airfare. Those from Nagpur ended up paying Rs 3.67 lakh. Aurangabad pilgrims were charged the highest airfare of Rs 3.92 lakh. The district administration recently directed various departments to provide necessary facilities to pilgrims departing from Nagpur for Haj.
Meanwhile, the Divisional Commissioner of Nagpur Vijayalakshmi Bidari directed various heads of departments to fulfill the responsibility assigned to them in a timely and efficient manner to provide necessary comfort and facilities to the Haj pilgrims departing from Nagpur.
A review meeting regarding facilities for Haj Yatra 2024 was held at the Divisional Commissioner’s office under the chairmanship of Bidari. District Collector Dr Vipin Itankar, Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Saumya Sharma, General Administration Department Deputy Commissioner Pradeep Kulkarni, Maharashtra State Haj Committee Executive Officer Imtiaz Kazi, and officials of Police Administration, Municipal Corporation, Airport Administration, Transport Branch, Public Works Department, State Bank of India, and Air India were present.
