MALAPPURAM: As the deadline given to the states to upload the documents of those selected for Hajj on the website of the Central Hajj Committee ended on Tuesday, Kerala is hoping for additional seats. Those who do not submit the documents will be canceled and those on the waiting list will be considered. In this way, Kerala got about 2,000 additional seats last year.

The allotment of seats is proportionate to the waiting list. In Kerala, 10,331 people have been selected for Hajj while 9,193 people are on the waiting list. There are 44,593 people in the entire country, out of which Gujarat-12,041 and Maharashtra-8,949 are the states with the highest number of people on the waiting list.

The first group from the country will leave on May 21.

Pilgrims from Kerala will depart from June 7 to 23. Kerala is usually included in the first pilgrim groups. This time, the state Hajj committee demanded that the journey be shifted to the second stage to take advantage of the extra seats available at the last moment.

Big plane in Kochi

A small 180-passenger Air India Express aircraft will operate from Karipur and Kannur and a larger Saudia aircraft will carry over 300 passengers from Kochi. There are 6,322 pilgrims from Karipur, 1,766 from Kannur and 2,243 from Kochi. There will be 37 services from Kozhikode and 12 from Kannur. The number of pilgrims from Kochi has not been decided.