By Akram Medhat
Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathy, Minister of Housing Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, head of the state's official Hajj mission this year, and Deputy Minister of Awqaf Dr. Gaber Tayea attended the send-off of the first groups of lottery pilgrims traveling this year, 1438 AH/2017, from the seasonal flights building at Cairo International Airport.
The event was attended by Major General Amr Lotfy, Assistant Minister of Interior for Administrative Affairs and executive head of the Hajj mission; Major General Saeed Shalaby, Assistant Minister of Interior for Ports Security; Safwat Moslem, chairman of EgyptAir Holding Company; and Eng. Mohamed Saeed Mahrous, chairman of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation.
The civil aviation minister said the honor of serving and caring for the pilgrims to God's Sacred House is a great responsibility, so preparations for it begin well in advance to ensure easy and smooth procedures, stressing coordination between the Ministry of Civil Aviation and all the ministries concerned, such as Interior, Social Solidarity, Tourism, Awqaf, Health and Finance, in cooperation with the Saudi authorities, especially the airports that receive millions of pilgrims from around the world, to ensure the best operation of Hajj flights heading from Egyptian airports to the Holy Land.
In a related context, Deputy Minister of Awqaf Dr. Gaber Tayea Youssef spoke of the ministry launching its wide-ranging religious outreach campaign with the first groups of pilgrims, to raise the awareness of pilgrims to God's Sacred House at all airports and ports and answer any questions or inquiries about performing the Hajj rituals, as the best imams and preachers were selected and assigned to the lottery, Social Solidarity and tourism Hajj missions, in addition to printing the book "Taysir Al-Hajj" (Making Hajj Easy).
Major General Amr Lotfy, Assistant Minister of Interior for Administrative Affairs and executive head of the Hajj mission, announced the provision of meals for pilgrims in Medina and Mecca, and while performing the rituals in Mina and Arafat.
For his part, Eng. Mohamed Saeed Mahrous, chairman of the Egyptian Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation, said the airports from which Egyptian pilgrims will travel are ready for the season with special services, most notably golf carts to serve elderly pilgrims, as well as areas equipped for ihram before boarding the plane.
In a related context, the quarantine department at Cairo airport is distributing a small box containing masks to pilgrims before they board the planes, as one of the preventive means used in extremely crowded places while performing the Hajj rituals.
