Rabat – EgyptAir, Egypt’s national carrier, has announced launching a series of flights for 3,200 Moroccan pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah rituals in 2023.
The first flight will take place on Friday, according to a statement from EgyptAir’s Chairman, Yehia Zakaria, quoted by Egyptian media Cairo24.
To execute the plan, EgyptAir contracted with major tourism companies in Morocco to plan 11 flights with Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner with a capacity of 309 passengers and Airbus A330-200 with a capacity of 268 passengers, the report explains.
The flights are scheduled to take off from Casablanca, Tangier, and Fez airports, with the Cairo International Airport as a transit destination before reaching Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
After the COVID-19 hiatus, the influx of pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah and Hajj rituals is finally returning to pre-pandemic levels.
In January, Saudi Arabia’s ministry in charge of organizing Hajj and Umrah announced the lifting of all COVID-related restrictions on travel and conduct in public spaces. The Golf country is set to receive 2 million pilgrims this year, up from a mere 1,000 in 2020, but still less than the 2.5 million recorded in 2019.
Morocco’s quota for the “1444 AH Hajj” Hajj season, which is this year in the Gregorian calendar, is set at 34,000 pilgrims, according to the country’s Islamic affairs ministry.
