Airport authority gearing up to take off Haj flights

Indians going on Haj this time should avoid hugging or shaking hands with pilgrims from other countries to ward off swine flu, according to a health ministry advisory.

The first batch of pilgrims from India is scheduled to leave on October 19. The Haj season will continue till January.

The Indian quota for this year’s Haj is around 1.6 lakh —1.15 lakh through the Haj Committee of India and 45,491 through private tour operators.

The airport authorities have already chalked out the strategy to handle the Haj pilgrims both during their departure and arrival.

The Haj pilgrims will have separate gathering and disembarking area to ensure that regular users at the airport are not inconvenienced in any manner and also facilitate smooth transit of the pilgrims from their camp site to the terminal building for the security check and customs clearance.