KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to increase number of Umrah flights from November 21 to November 30. According to details, 11 more flights would be operated from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Multan, said a statement on Monday. These flights are in addition to the four additional weekly flights to Jeddah that have already been added to the PIA’s winter schedule which was adopted at the start of November, taking the total number of weekly Jeddah flights from 21 to 25, adding a weekly capacity of more than 1,000 passengers. “This is the result of an aggressive sales campaign launched by the PIA’s Marketing Department to proactively sell Umrah flights two months ago, the statement added. PIA Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Bernd Hildenbrand said all efforts were being made to facilitate passengers. The PIA has also obtained additional slots from the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority (GACA), for the whole Umrah season, so that more capacity is available with the PIA, in case the demand increases.
