The Civil Aviation Department had asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation to revive the direct Hajj flights in the wake of the inconvenience faced by the pilgrims from the territory but the demand was not accepted, Kashmir Media Service reported.

While the Civil Aviation Ministry had approached the Indian Home Ministry to allow the Saudi-Arabian airline-NAS Air-to fly pilgrims directly from Kashmir.

At least 8,000 pilgrims from Kashmir are scheduled to go for the holy pilgrimage this year. And for them, the news of indirect flights has come as a shocker.

"What is the fun of naming the Srinagar Airport as an international airport when you can't allow foreign airlines to operate on it?" asked a Hajj aspirant, Ghulam Muhammad of Chanapora.

Since 2009, the authorities have miserably failed to ensure direct flights from Srinagar to Jeddah, he added.