TEHRAN – The first group of Iranian hajj pilgrims flew home on Friday, departing from Medina in Saudi Arabia to Sari, the capital of Mazandaran province, Tasnim reported.

Another group of Iranian hajj pilgrims returned home on Saturday, leaving Medina for Salam Terminal at Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport City (IKAC).

Iranian flag carrier Iran Air sent a special Airbus aircraft from Jeddah to Tehran to transfer the pilgrims, said the general manager of Salam terminal, Mohammad Reza Fardi, according to IKAC news service.

A total of 12 flights were operated by Iran Air on Friday to return Iranian pilgrims to the provinces of Mazandaran, Yazd and Zanjan.

Return flights will be carried out until September 8, taking some 88,000 pilgrims from the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Medina to 19 provinces in Iran over a period of 23 days.

A total of 361 return flights are scheduled to be operated, of which 176 are from Jeddah and the remaining 185 from Medina, Fars reported on Saturday.

Over 88,500 hajj pilgrims were transported from various Iranian airports to Saudi Arabia via 360 flights over the course of 30 days (July 8 – Aug. 6), the report said.

Performing hajj is compulsory on every Muslim at least once in their life. It is one of the largest annual gathering of human beings on earth, with approximately three million people gathering each year for three to five days between the eighth and 12th of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month of the Muslim calendar.

AFM/MG