22 Embarkation Points in 21 cities for Haj 2019

Mumbai is the only Hajj Embarkation Point which has been included in both the laps

Hajj 2019 Embarkation Points: Pilgrims from India will travel to Makkah for Hajj 2019 from 22 Embarkation Points in 21 cities, the Haj Committee of India said Saturday.

The Haj Committee of India has divided the 22 Haj Embarkation Points in 02 Laps. While the first Lap consists of 10 Embarkation Points, the second Lap consists of 12 Embarkation Points.

The 10 Haj Embarkation Points in the First Lap are: Bangalore, Calicut, Cochin, Delhi, Gaya, Goa, Guwahati, Mangalore, Mumbai and Srinagar.

The 12 Haj Embarkation Points in the Second Lap are: Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Chennai Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Ranchi and Varanasi.

Mumbai is the only Hajj Embarkation Point which has been included in both the laps.

"Haj flights from Embarkation Points in Lap I will fly to Madinah from India. The return Haj Flights for all these embarkation points in Lap I will be from Jeddah", the Haj Committee of India said.

"On the other hand, Haj flights from Embarkation Points in Lap II will fly to Jeddah from India. The return Haj Flights for all these embarkation points in Lap II will be from Madinah International Airport", it said.

The Haj Flight Schedule for Haj 2019 will be released soon after the Haj Committee of India finalizes travel deal with airlines. However, according to Haj Action Plan 2019, the first outbound flight for Haj 2019 will depart from India on July 01, 2019. The last outbound Haj 2019 flight will be on August 03, 2019. The first inbound Haj flight from Saudi Arabia to India will be on August 14, 2019.

A total of 200,000 pilgrims will embark for Haj 2019 from India this year. India earlier had a quota of 175,000 pilgrims. Its quota was increased by 25000 during Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman's visit to India in February this year. The Haj Committee of India is yet to conduct the Qurrah, draw of lots, for these additional seats.

Coinciding with Eid al Adha, Haj is the annual ritual to commemorate the sacrifices made by Prophet Ibrahim, his wife Hager and their son Prophet Ismael. The likely date of Wuqoof e Arafat - the key ritual of the Hajj, is August 09 or 10. As the Islamic calendar is based on sighting of moon, the final date will be decided once the new moon of the month of Dhul Hijjah is sighted.

UMMLD