SONGKHLA, Sept 17 – The inaugural charter flight from Hat Yai International Airport has been launched on Monday for Thai Muslims wishing to join the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the centre of worldwide Islam in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre (SBPAC) together with the Religious Affairs Department and related agencies jointly organised this year’s event to send off pilgrims on their pilgrimage to Mecca.
Thai Airways charter flight TG8500 will land at Jeddah, the principal gateway to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
The atmosphere at Hat Yai airport is lively with families of Muslim Thais in Thailand’s five southern border provinces to see 295 pilgrims off at the airport.
Some 13,000 Muslim Thais will go to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj this year, 9,000 from the southern border provinces. Nineteen flights are being operated during this Hajj season between September 17-26.
