Date:30/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/30/stories/2008103051510300.htm

Kerala

Inaugural Haj flight to take off today

Staff Reporter

Paloli Mohammed Kutty will flag off the flight

Air India will operate 25 flights from Karipur
7,208 applicants selected under the Haj Committee

KARIPUR: This year’s inaugural Haj flight will leave Calicut International Airport at Karipur on Thursday morning. Air India’s special Haj flight AI-3702 will take off at 10.15 a.m. carrying 420 pilgrims from different parts of the State. Minister for Haj affairs Paloli Mohammed Kutty will flag off the inaugural flight. Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar will lead the prayer on Thursday.

The Haj camp set up at the Haj House at Karipur became abuzz on Wednesday evening when the first batch of pilgrims arrived. Haj Committee Chairman A.K. Abdul Hameed said that all arrangements were made for the pilgrims at the Haj camp. He called upon the pilgrims to arrive at the camp 10 hours before the departure of their flight.

Air India will operate 25 flights from Karipur to ferry around 9,500 pilgrims from Kerala, Lakshadweep and Mahe till November 16.

The remaining seven flights will be additional services to accommodate the 2,000 pilgrims selected for Haj under the Central government quota.

Air India manager Yogesh Mundhwa said the airline would fly an Airbus 310 as additional services from November 5 to November 11. The additional flights will be operated at night, and they will fly to Jeddah. Those who travel on the additional flights will enter into Ihram (a sacred state compulsory for Umra and Haj) by wearing two seamless sheets of clothes before they board the flight at Karipur.

However, the majority pilgrims travelling on the normal Haj flights will not have to enter into Ihram at Karipur. Air India will fly the normal flights to Medina. The pilgrims flying directly to Medina will have to change the Ihram robe only after reaching there.

Mr. Hameed said 7,208 applicants were selected for the pilgrimage under the State Haj Committee. There will be 295 pilgrims from Lakshadweep and 51 from Mahe. Nearly 2,000 applicants from the State were selected under the Central Haj Quota.

There will be 1,897 pilgrims from Kozhikode, 1,757 from Malappuram and 1,179 from Kannur. From Pathanamthitta district, there will be only 46 pilgrims and from Idukki only 61 pilgrims, said Mr. Hameed.

As many as 29,078 candidates had applied for this year’s pilgrimage. Only 25 per cent was selected.