Saudia to carry 818,000 Haj pilgrims

September 17, 2014

Jeddah, Sep 17: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) will carry nearly 818,000 pilgrims coming for Haj this year from different parts of the world, said Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, director general of the Kingdom’s flag carrier.

Saudia will carry 785,984 pilgrims from 72 international airports including 470,770 from Asia, 118,951 from the Middle East and Gulf, 105,462 from Europe and America, 90,801 from Africa in addition to 32,000 from Saudi cities.

“We have opened four new markets this year: Sudan, Sweden, Denmark and Norway,” Al-Jasser said. The first Saudia flight carrying Haj pilgrims arrived from the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka.

“We’ll transport pilgrims from all over the world to King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Prince Mohammed International Airport in Madinah,” he said, adding that Saudia would carry 145,000 pilgrims to Madinah airport.

He said Saudia would make use of its newly purchased fleet to transport the pilgrims. “We have also rented 29 aircraft with 11,600 seats to meet the growing demand during the Haj season,” he said.

Saudia has deployed an adequate number of employees at all stations to meet the requirements of the Haj traffic. “We have also appointed employees from Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh at the Jeddah and Madinah airports to meet passengers’ needs,” Al-Jasser said.

The airline has made arrangements for transporting Zamzam water cans for pilgrims on returning empty flights to India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It has also signed contracts with hotels to accommodate stranded pilgrims.

“We have set out an alternative plan, depending on the sighting of the new moon,” he explained.

Spelling out the airline’s special services, he said it includes the distribution of boarding passes in advance at ports of embarkation for return journeys.

“This will give pilgrims peace of mind and enable them to concentrate on prayers and worship instead of visiting the airline’s offices to make bookings and get boarding passes,” he added.

Saudia has also made arrangements for the distribution of meals that suit the taste of pilgrims from different countries on its Haj flights. “We have appointed airhostesses who can speak the language of the pilgrims,” Al-Jasser said.

The airline will also screen Haj-related documentaries during the journey. Pilgrims from Indonesia and Malaysia are given city baggage check-in services in Jeddah while Indian and Iranian pilgrims are given similar services in Makkah.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Hundreds of Palestinian kids kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured by Israel: UN expert expresses shock

News Network

November 14,2024

The UN special rapporteur for Palestine has slammed Israel’s parliament for passing a law authorizing the detention of Palestinian children, who are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” in Israeli custody.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in a Thursday post on X, characterized the experiences of Palestinian minors in Israeli detention as extreme and often inhumane.

The UN expert highlighted the grave impact of this policy, noting that up to 700 Palestinian minors are taken into custody each year, a practice she described as part of an unlawful occupation that views these children as potential threats.

Albanese said Palestinian minors in Israeli custody are “tormented often beyond the breaking point” and that “generations of Palestinians will carry the scars and trauma from the Israeli mass incarceration system.”

She further criticized the international community for its inaction, suggesting that ongoing diplomatic efforts, which often rely on the idea of resuming negotiations for peace, have contributed to normalizing such human rights violations against Palestinian children and the broader population.

The comments by Albanese came in response to Israel’s parliament (Knesset) passing a law on November 7 that authorizes the detention of Palestinian children under the age of 14 for “terrorism or terrorist activities.”

Under the legislation, a temporary five-year measure, once the individuals turn 14, they will be transferred to adult prison to continue serving their sentences.

Additionally, the law allows for a three-year clause that enables courts to incarcerate minors in adult prisons for up to 10 days if they are considered dangerous. Courts have the authority to extend this duration if necessary, according to the Knesset.

The legislation underscores a shift in the treatment of minors and raises alarms among human rights advocates regarding the legal and ethical ramifications of detaining children and the conditions under which they may be held.

Thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently in Israeli jails—around one-third without charge or trial. Also, an unknown number are arbitrarily held following a wave of arrests in the wake of the regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Since the onset of the Gaza war, the Israeli regime, under the supervision of extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, has turned prisons and detention centers into “death chambers,” the ministry of detainees and ex-detainees’ affairs in Gaza says.

Violence, extreme hunger, humiliation, and other forms of abuse of Palestinian prisoners have been normalized across Israel’s jail system, reports indicate.

Over 270 Palestinian minors are being detained by Israeli authorities, in violation of UN resolutions and international treaties that forbid the incarceration of children, as reported by Palestinian rights organizations.

Comments