euroAtlantic Airways (YU, Lisbon) has announced it will base six aircraft - one B777-200(ER) and five B767-300(ER)s - and about two hundred and seventy crew in Jeddah International as part of a Hajj charter contract with Saudi Arabian carrier, flynas (XY, Riyadh).
“This Hajj contract is, to date, the biggest ever signed by a national airline, public or privately owned," Tomaz Metello, the chairman and CEO of euroAtlantic Airways, said. "And in the history of Portuguese civil aviation, this is the largest ever movement of aircraft and crews."
As part of its 10 week-long contract, euroAtlantic will ferry pilgrims from destinations in India, Nigeria, Chad, Burkina Faso, Benin, Cameroon, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan to Jeddah. From there, they will head to the city of Mecca, revered by Muslims as the birthplace of Muhammad and the site of his first revelation of the Quran.
