A special PIA flight carried a group of government officials and their staff to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj. The officials had missed their previous Hajj flight due to the federal budget on Sunday.
The 52 pilgrims included President Arif Alvi, his family and staff, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Murtaza Abbasi, and caretaker Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Mohsin Naqvi. There were also 90 regular passengers on the flight.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar mentioned this flight in a National Assembly (NA) session, saying it was meant to facilitate parliamentarians. However, he later clarified that the lawmakers paid for their expenses. The arrangements were made after Islamabad requested permission from Saudi authorities for a special PIA flight for the parliamentarians involved in the budget debate.
Interestingly, lawmakers, the president, his wife, and staff were on the flight. Saudi authorities were reportedly not informed of President Alvi’s arrival and airport officials initially prevented passengers from disembarking for about 15 minutes. A passenger on the flight talked about this delay.
Airport authorities questioned why they had not received prior information about the president’s particular flight with the ‘Pak-1 call sign’. After 15 minutes, a convoy of black Mercedes vehicles arrived at the landing strip to escort President Alvi.
The other passengers remained on the plane and were later taken to the airport lounge like regular travelers.
Press Secretary to President Akhtar Munir assured that the president, along with six family members and four staff members, went for Hajj at his own expense and no state funds were used.
