SRINAGAR: The arrival phase of Hajj flights for pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir will commence from June 2, 2026, with the first flight scheduled to land at Srinagar International Airport at 12:45 pm, according to a notification issued by the Jammu Kashmir Hajj Committee.
The Hajj Committee said that due to a NOTAM and restrictions related to aircraft landing with heavy loads, the luggage of pilgrims returning from Ahmedabad will be transported separately by road to Srinagar instead of being carried on the flights.
The notification stated that immigration and customs clearance of pilgrims would be completed at Ahmedabad itself before departure to Srinagar.
The notification has been sent to the pilgrims in their whatsapp and it has created tension. “How can they tell us at this moment when we have made purchases and packaged it,” one pilgrim from Baramulla said. “This is unfair and must be looked into as early as possible.”
As per the schedule, flight QP-7629 is scheduled to arrive on June 2 at 12:45 pm, followed by QP-7630 on June 3 at 12:50 pm and QP-7631 on June 4 at 12:55 pm.
The Hajj Committee has imposed strict baggage regulations for pilgrims travelling to Srinagar. Each pilgrim will be allowed only one hand baggage weighing up to 7 kilograms and a maximum of 5 kilograms of check-in baggage on the Srinagar-bound flight.
The remaining baggage, up to a maximum of 30 kilograms per pilgrim, will be transported separately by road from Ahmedabad to Srinagar. Authorities have also directed that no single piece of check-in luggage should weigh more than 22 kilograms.
Pilgrims have been advised to keep the check-in baggage of members belonging to the same cover group together to facilitate easier handling and transportation.
The road-transported luggage will be made available for collection at Hajj House, Bemina, upon its arrival in Srinagar, the notification added.
Meanwhile, relatives intending to receive pilgrims at Srinagar International Airport have been advised to download vehicle passes from the Hajj Committee’s official website two days before the arrival of flights.
The Hajj Committee said the schedule for the remaining arrival flights would be notified separately. More than 4700 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir went on the sacred journey with the Hajj Committee of Jammu and Kashmir.
Hajj Committee officials in Srinagar failed to respond to the queries made by this newsroom. The top executive, otherwise accessible, neither picked up the phone nor responded to the text messages.
Pilgrims who were contacted on the phone said the Hajj Committee has discriminated against them from day one. “Our Hajj package is expensive in comparison to other states,” one pilgrim said. “When we took off from Srinagar, they reduced our luggage limit, and now, when we are about to board our return flights, it has been reduced further.”
The pilgrims said they had paid for an international flight that included the luggage limit. At the last moment, they said they are being told that domestic flight norms will be forced upon them. They have asked the Hajj Committee and the government of Jammu and Kashmir to take it seriously and intervene so that there’s no crisis on their flight back home.
“Why should our luggage move on the road when we have paid for it according to international norms,” one pilgrim said. “We will reach home in time, and our luggage will reach almost a week later.”
