First Hajj flight under government scheme—as part of Road to Makkah project—left from capital Islamabad at 3:30am today (Monday), reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Monday.
First flight to Madinah was left at 3:30am while same day the second flight departed from Islamabad at 8pm. It is expected that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will also come to the Islamabad Airport to see off the pilgrims on the second flight taking off from Islamabad International Airport.
According to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 32,000 pilgrims will be flown to Saudi Arabia via 106 Hajj flights.
The spokesperson said 42 flights will be operated from Islamabad under the Road to Makkah project.
An AirBlue flight PA-467 left for Madinah, Saudi Arabia from Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore on Sunday at 1:55pm carrying 220 pilgrims.
Punjab Governor, DG Religious Affairs department Dr Tahir Raza Bukhari, AIIP Manager and Air Blue officials saw off the first flight from Lahore.
From Multan, the first flight will depart at 4:30pm on Monday.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs said that flight operations from Faisalabad may be announced as per the convenience and demand.
All Peshawar flights have been enroute to Islamabad.
Hajj pilgrims are also being informed about the flights through the website and SMS on their mobile number.
Reporter Saeed Ahmed Saeed