LAHORE: First Hajj flight under government scheme – as part of Road to Makkah project – left from capital Islamabad at 3:30am today (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.