DUSHANBE, September 19, 2013, Asia-Plus – Tajik national air carrier, Tajik Air, will start carrying Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia beginning on September 21.
According to the Tajik Air press center, Boeing 757-200 will be used to operate flights to Medina and Jeddah. In all, the company is expected to operate thirteen flights to Medina and Jeddah from September 21 to October 1.
This year, Tajik Air will carry 2,730 Hajj pilgrims from Tajikistan to Saudi Arabia, which is 40 percent of the total number of Tajik Hajj pilgrims.
We will recall that 6,000 Tajik nationals are expected to perform Hajj this year and Tajik Air and Tajik private air company, Somon Air, will carry Tajik Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
The Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is currently the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar, the Gregorian date of the Hajj changes from year to year.
