ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has announced a new Umrah policy for pilgrims traveling to the two Saudi cities of Madinah and Jeddah.

In a statement released on Tuesday, PIA said it would allow “group bookings and confirmations of at least 10 passengers,” adding that the Umrah policy and fares for travel from Pakistan to Jeddah and Madinah were valid till December 31 this year.

The Economy class return fare from Karachi, inclusive of all taxes, has been set at Rs. 91,000 whereas from other cities of Pakistan the fare will be Rs.96,000.

“The baggage allowance for economy class is 2 pieces not exceeding 36 Kgs and for executive economy the allowable baggage is 2 pieces not exceeding 40 Kgs,” the statement said. “The passengers will be allowed to carry one 5 liters Zam Zam (water) bottle as free allowable baggage.”

PIA said all passengers would be allowed one free change of booking seven days before the date of travel.

Last week Saudi Arabia permitted PIA to operate two new weekly flights to Al-Qassim province starting from November 19. Al-Qassim will be PIA’s fifth destination in Saudi Arabia.

With the new destination’s addition, PIA will be operating 42 weekly flights to Saudi Arabia. It already flies to Madinah, Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah.

Following the lifting of travel bans to check the spread of coronavirus last week, Pakistani pilgrims have started to arrive in Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

Saudi Arabia closed its borders in February to foreign Umrah pilgrims and, in March, stopped its own citizens and residents from taking part in order to contain the spread of the virus. In July, the Kingdom allowed a limited number of domestic pilgrims to perform Hajj.