Haj pilgrims arrive before their baggage

“It’s almost a week but there is no sign of our baggage. What is Air-India doing? We don’t seem to be getting any answers from the special counter opened at the airport,” said the Haj pilgrims at the international airport in the wee hours of Tuesday. The protestors also blocked the Arrivals Gate on the ground floor, but the airport police soon managed to pacify the crowd and cleared the arrival zone.

Haj Committee members say that the main reason for the delay is the excess baggage carried by the passengers. “We have been officially told that the baggage will take some more time to return as it was excess, but we have asked the airlines to at least hurry up with those baggage containing Zamzam water,” informed the Executive Officer of Haj Committee, Abdul Rashid Mir.

The Air-India Director (public relations) Jitendra Bhargav, reasoned that each Haj pilgrim is allowed to carry 45 kilogrammes of baggage on their return journey (including 10 Kg of Zamzam water), but most of the passengers cross this weight limit.

“AI is coordinating 191 special return Haj flights for 33 days starting from March 22, which is practically six flights daily. So there is obviously going to be a lot of strain on the airline if the passengers cross the 45 Kg load limit,” reasoned Bhargav, adding that the excess baggage will soon return in schedule AI flights.

“If we did not delay the baggage, then lesser number of passengers would have to be accomodated to overcome the payload problems; but we are doing our best under these difficult circumstances,” he said.

Nearly 72,000 Indians had gone on the Haj pilgrimage this year, and they are now returning back in special AI flights.