LAHORE – PIA’s first pre-Haj flight PK-2401 took off from Lahore at 7:10 am carrying 501 intending pilgrims to Jeddah on Thursday, spokesman of the airline said.
Deputy Managing Director Engineering PIA Qasim Masood Khan along with District  Manager PIA,  Muhammad Umer Draz ,  PIA Manager Haj Dr Muqaddam, Station Manager PIA, PIA Public Relations, Airport Manager CAA, Taimoor Asghar, ASF, CAA, PIA  officials and scouts bid farewell to the intending pilgrims at Haj Terminal  Allama  Iqbal International Airport Lahore.
The second PIA Haj flight PK-2201 carrying 502 intending pilgrims took off at 11:25 am from Lahore to Jeddah. During the pre-Haj operation PIA will operate daily eight to ten flights carrying about 3,500 pilgrims to Jeddah from seven stations – Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta ,Sialkot and Multan. till 20th Oct 2012.
The first Haj flight from Multan will depart on 27th Sept. and from Sialkot on 1st Oct 2012. According to initial estimate the national flag carrier will be carrying 95,000 intending pilgrims to holy land through 204 Haj flights to Jeddah and 04 flights to Madinah Munawara out of which PIA will be carrying 20,000 plus intending pilgrims on 40 Haj flights from Lahore. The pre-Haj operation will conclude on 20th Oct 2012.