CAIRO: The EgyptAir Company allocated 14 flights Thursday to carry 3,368 Muslim pilgrims from the Cairo International Airport to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, state-owned News Agency reported Thursday.
On Aug. 19, the company is to operate about 490 flights to Jeddah and Madina Munawara starting from Aug. 30, launching the major pilgrimage season, said EgyptAir CEO Sameh al-Hefny in a press conference.
Around 70,000 Egyptian pilgrims are due to travel to Mecca to perform the ritual; 19,000 are lot-chosen, a government procedure that offers the cheapest means to go for pilgrimage, 10,000 are supported by the Ministry of Social Solidarity and 40,000 are travelling via tourism companies.
Egyptian government has set up 35 makeshift medical clinics in Saudi territories to provide healthcare services for Egyptian pilgrims during the Hajj.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian-Palestinian Rafah border crossing closed Thursday after three-day opening for Palestinian pilgrims who will travel via Cairo to Mecca.
The total number of Palestinian pilgrims over the last three days reached 2,226 passengers, an Egyptian security official at the crossing told Youm7 Wednesday.
Saudi authorities announced that the turnout of pilgrims who arrived in Mecca since the beginning of this year reached 796,581 pilgrims as of Wednesday, with an increase of 7,818 pilgrims for the same period in 2014.
According to statistics of the Saudi General Directorate of Passports, the 780, 474 pilgrims arrived via air; 9,039 pilgrims via ground transportation; and 7,068 pilgrims via sea.
The Hajj, expected to fall this year on Sept. 23, is a series of rituals performed in the city of Mecca to re-enact the actions of the Prophet Muhammad. It coincides with the celebration of Eid-el-Adha (feast of the sacrifice.)