Last group of pilgrims to leave Tunis for Holy Shrines, next Tuesday

The last group of Tunisian pilgrims will leave Tunis-Carthage airport next Tuesday, bound for the Holy Shrines to perform the rites of the Great Pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca 1445-2024.The first flight, with 227 pilgrims on board, left Tunis-Carthage airport on May 22 for Prince Mohamed Ben Abdelaziz International Airport in Medina.Flights for Tunisian pilgrims, totalling 10,982 this year, are operated by the national carrier Tunisair (22 flights) and the Saudi Arabian airline (20 flights), from eight Tunisian airports.The pilgrims will return between June 21 and July 9, 2024.According to data provided by Religious Affairs Minister Brahim Chaïbi, almost 217,000 Tunisians have applied for the hajj 2024, exclusively through online registration on the platform made available to them by the Religious Affairs Department.The quota reserved for Tunisians amounts to 10,982 people, including the administrative delegation members.A 520-member delegation will escort the Tunisian pilgrims, comprising the medical , religious guidance and services and assistance delegations.The average age of the Tunisian pilgrims is 56.The oldest Tunisian pilgrim for the hajj 2024 is Regaya Hakim (104). She flew to the holy sites from Djerba-Zarzis airport together with her family members.Tunisia is seeking to increase the quota reserved for its pilgrims based on the results of the general population census conducted every 10 years, said the Minister of Religious Affairs.In 2014, the date of the last population census, the quota reserved for Tunisian pilgrims was close to 8,730.Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse