The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony is still accepting applications for Hajj 2023 under the government’s scheme. The applications will be processed on a first come first serve basis for a limited number of seats. The deadline to submit applications is 2 June.
It’s important to note that the initial application deadline has already passed, but this new opportunity has been opened up. For the Hajj season, half of the quota has been allocated to the sponsorship scheme. This scheme is a special provision for Hajj pilgrims who wish to obtain foreign exchange from abroad through a specific dollar account with the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Regarding the current Hajj operations for Pakistani pilgrims, the first flight by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) left Karachi for Saudi Arabia on 21 May with 328 pilgrims on board.
PIA is using Boeing 777 and Airbus 320 aircraft for this operation, which aims to transport over 65,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Officials from PIA, CAA, Director Hajj Karachi Sajjad Haider, and DG Benazir Income Support Programme Imtiaz Shah were present at the occasion.