ISLAMABAD
\nThe national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Saturday announced fares for Hajj 2023 for southern and northern regions of the country.
\nThe PIA spokesperson expressed the fare for pilgrims going for private Hajj has been fixed from $870 to $1,180. This fare will be applicable for pilgrims from the southern region of Pakistan which includes Karachi, Quetta, Sukkur, Hyderabad.
\nThe fare rate for pilgrims from the northern region of the country, which includes Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Multan and other cities, will be from $910 to $1,220.
\nThe Ministry of Religious Affairs is expected to announce fares for pilgrims going under the official Hajj quota.
\nThe national airline will continue Hajj flight operations from May 21 to August 2, during which more than 38,000 pilgrims are expected to travel. About 44,000 pilgrims will go to Hijaz through Saudi Airlines and two private airlines operating from the rest of Pakistan. PIA will use Boeing 777 and Airbus 320 for its Hajj flight operations to Jeddah and Madina.
\nLast week, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony decided to allocate a 25% special quota in the government\u2019s Hajj Scheme for the pilgrims depositing their dues in US dollars, adding that they would be exempted from the balloting under the new Hajj policy.
\nThe ministry said about 22,400 pilgrims would benefit from the \u2018Sponsorship Scheme\u2019 being introduced in the wake of the prevailing foreign exchange crisis in the country.
\nIt has also increased the Hajj quota for private operators from 40-50%, which might be raised further.
\nThe ministry is expected to charge Rs1.1 million from each pilgrim under the government scheme, but expenses might rise to Rs1.3 million in case of further depreciation of the rupee.
\nThe Ministry of Finance indicated that it would not be able to arrange some $2 billion for the Hajj amid the foreign currency shortage. According to sources, the Saudi government is also increasing the tax rate on Hajj by 18-20%. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Saturday announced fares for Hajj 2023 for southern and northern regions of the country. The PIA spokesperson expressed the fare for pilgrims going for private Hajj has been fixed from $870 to $1,180. This fare will be applicable for pilgrims from the southern region of Pakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-317533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n