Baku, Azerbaijan, July 31
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Uzbekistan Airways national air carrier (NAC) has begun carrying out flights on the Hajj-2018 program, Uzbek media reported.
Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence.
Pilgrims from the cities of Uzbekistan will be taken to the city of Medina of Saudi Arabia by comfortable Boeing-767 airplanes until August 13 of this year.
“Over the years, Uzbekistan Airways has been making direct flights from the republic's airports to the pilgrimage site. This year, 32 flights from the airports of Tashkent, Namangan, Samarkand, Qarshi and Bukhara are planned to carry 7,200 pilgrims from Uzbekistan,” the air carrier said.
All conditions for a comfortable stay of passengers are created at the airports of the republic and salons of the NAC’s aircrafts. Prayer rooms, equipped with special places for ablution, are created in the airport terminals.
The Specialized Working Group assists pilgrims during check-in and customs formalities. Passengers are offered a light breakfast in the departure halls and quality and tasty food on board.
Return flights are scheduled from Aug. 27 to Sept. 14. Pilgrims will return to their homeland from the city of Jeddah.
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