Hundreds of thousands of Pakistani pilgrims will not be able to travel toSaudi Arabia this year after Saudi authorities extended restrictions ontravellers from 20 countries, including Pakistan.
A large number of Umrah pilgrims from Pakistan travel to Saudi Arabia everyyear but the number is limited for over a year due to phased restrictionson international flights.
According to official figures, the number of Umrah pilgrims leavingPakistan in 2019 was more than 2 million, while in 2018 it was close to 1.7million.
It may be recalled that on February 27, 2020, the Saudi authoritiesannounced a temporary ban on the entry of foreign Umrah pilgrims.
From November 2020, foreign Umrah pilgrims were allowed to enter thecountry on a limited scale with Coronavirus SOPs.
It should be noted that from February 3, 2021, due to the increase incorona cases, the Saudi authorities once again banned visitors from 20countries, including Pakistan, which has been extended until May 17.
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Like last year, this year too, Pakistan’s state-owned airline PIA hassuffered severe financial losses due to air sanctions.
According to a PIA spokesperson, “the national carrier collects Rs 35billion in revenue from Hajj and Umrah, but for the past one year, thecompany has suffered heavy financial losses due to limited flights forUmrah.”
PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said that “every year during Ramadan, thenumber of special flights for Umrah pilgrims is increased because thenumber of pilgrims during Ramadan has increased dramatically, but this yearas well as last year.” Flights for Umrah are closed in Ramadan.
“The PIA had also introduced a special package for Umrah to allow limitedUmrah, but the number of visitors has been lower than usual due to thecoronavirus,” he said.
