Manchester airport has revealed that more than 10,000 people from across northern England are expected to travel through the base for this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

Some 4,500 people are set to catch direct flights from Manchester to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to begin their journey to the holy city, which is visited by millions of Muslims every year.

The first of 20 specially chartered services departed on 1 November and the final return flight is scheduled for 2 December.

About 6,000 travellers are expected to fly from Manchester to other destinations in the Middle East to access connections to Saudi Arabia.

Moulana Faruk Ali, of the Manchester airport chaplaincy team, said: ‘The airport has many years of experience dealing with the extra flights that this important time of year brings and we are very pleased to welcome the thousands of people from the north-west who will be travelling to this year’s Hajj through Manchester airport.’

Source: Opodo Travel