Saudia Hajj charter destinations

[LUNN]

Saudia routemap now shows an array of places they fly Hajj flights from as follows, none are part of regular network:

MOROCCO

Tangier, Rabat, Fes, Agadir, Marrakech

ALGERIA

Oran, Annaba, Ghardaia

TURKEY

Izmir, Ankara, Adana

SYRIA

Aleppo

IRAN

Rasht, Yazd, Tabriz, Isfahan, Sary, Kerman, Zahedan, Busheher, Shiraz, Urmieh

INDIA

Ahmedabad

INDONESIA

Medan, Batam, Surabaya

http://www.saudiairlines.com/static_...tworkMap_L.jpg

[B757300]

Originally Posted by LUNN

SYRIA

Aleppo

I have a feeling that one won't happen anytime soon.

[AA 1818]

Originally Posted by B757300

I have a feeling that one won't happen anytime soon.

I know that you meant it as a joke, but they have already (for the most parts) and/or soon will control the entire city and neighboring provinces. Considering the dear prices being paid to get there, it's a hell of a fight. And when they win, they'll show what it meant to them to win, and to overthrow a dictator. Depth of situation aside, I wonder if Damascus will remain the capital when Assad is gone. Will they just cite the economic importance of Aleppo, as justification of the move? If so, how will this affect airline operations to the nation?

[B757300]

Originally Posted by AA 1818

I know that you meant it as a joke, but they have already (for the most parts) and/or soon will control the entire city and neighboring provinces. Considering the dear prices being paid to get there, it's a hell of a fight. And when they win, they'll show what it meant to them to win, and to overthrow a dictator. Depth of situation aside, I wonder if Damascus will remain the capital when Assad is gone. Will they just cite the economic importance of Aleppo, as justification of the move? If so, how will this affect airline operations to the nation?

The thing is, Assad is not going to go easily. Most of the military still supports him, and he has one thing that is the wild card, enough chemical weapons to lay waste to any area he chooses.

[AA 1818]

Originally Posted by B757300

The thing is, Assad is not going to go easily. Most of the military still supports him, and he has one thing that is the wild card, enough chemical weapons to lay waste to any area he chooses.

He may have the chem. weapons, but he is not stupid enough to use them. He has the military, of that we can be certain, but his international support is waning (China will abandon him first, and then maybe Russia). I completely agree, he is not going to go easily. I just hope that we get a resolution and soon. A 'freedom fighter' said on Al-Jazeera a few weeks ago, "It doesn't matter who we shoot, because with every bullet, regardless of who fires it - a Syrian life is lost,".

[AA 1818]

Originally Posted by LUNN

Saudia routemap now shows an array of places they fly Hajj flights from as follows, none are part of regular network:

As always, a few questions;

1). I know that Makkah only has a small airport (with no International service) and so you have to go through Jeddah. Is/Can/Should that change? Do any services go to Makkah for Hajj?

2). Does Medinah have an airport? Do international flights go here during Hajj?

3). Considering the amount of traffic on these trips, how does Customs and Immigration operate when pilgrims arrive to Jeddah? Is there a pre-clearance system (such as is done here in the U.S. regarding entry from certain ports/nations?

4). I really wish that we had a map/list of all the airlines that participate in Hajj so that we could see all of the 'irregular' flights that are flown yearly. It would be nice to put that into perspective, considering how massive the Hajj is yearly.

5). How does Saudia respond to cities/nations, that they serve regularly, during Hajj? Do they offer greater frequencies (and so special flights), or just up the equipment to serve the route? How does Pakistan do the Hajj? Does Saudia up their capacities, or does PIA, or do they both? Also, is PIA the sole airline that the Pakistani government relies on for Hajj preparations? Or, can Private companies (such as AirBlue) apply? Or, is the government much more laissez-faire with the whole matter?

[LUNN]

I dont think Makkah has an airport, if so I didnt even know about it upril now. a decade ago there were plans to build one midway between Jeddah and Makkah but instead they decided to boost JED with mega expansion. Would the other option have been better I cant say, but a high speed rail is in the making to run from the new airport terminals to Makkah.



Medina has an International airport catering both scheduled flights plus hajj and umra services, traffic is divided between JED and MED during hajj, if JED alone cannot handle the flights, perhaps also slot based for charters, they may be in MED on hajj and only JED the next or fly to both, has happened with PIA but now they also serve MED scheduled and Shaheen will too from later this year.



Saudia and all airlines flying scheduled to Saudi operate extra flights for Hajj these are Hajj flights only, from Pakistan its Saudia, PIA, NAS Air and Shaheen that do these, not sure but I think scheduled flights to JED are ended by some airlines during this period. Aircraft are also chartered from other carriers for the purpose. Saudia aicraft have been chartered to fly from Oslo in the past.


Finnair and South African airways have operated hajj flights in the past, Uzbekistan do so as do Air China and Thai.


I am clueless about customs and immigration but do know everything is dealt with on arrival.


JED has its own seprate hajj Terminal not sure about Medina.