First hajj flights reach Jeddah

Two Hajj flights, carrying 834 pilgrims reached King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from Dhaka yesterday.

Officials of Saudi Hajj ministry and Bangladesh embassy in Saudi Arabia greeted Bangladeshi hajj participants at the airport with flowers, prayer mats, caps and tasbih, Maqsudur Rahman, councilor [hajj] to the Bangladesh Hajj office in Mecca, told The Daily Star over telephone.

Three more flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines were scheduled to fly to Saudi Arabia yesterday carrying hajj pilgrims, said officials of the national flag carrier.

The maiden hajj flight BG-3001 of the national airliner took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 6:58am.

Due to technical glitches, pre-departure immigration of pilgrims couldn’t be completed yesterday for the first two hajj flights, Biman officials said.

Biman officials hoped that immigration formalities of hajis would be completed from Dhaka following resolution of the network problem. 

This year, for the first time, immigration formalities of more than half of Bangladeshi pilgrims are scheduled to be completed in Dhaka, meaning they don’t need to wait for hours at the Saudi airport to complete the formalities.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali and State Minister for Religious Affairs Advocate Sheikh Md Abdullah were present yesterday at the airport to see off the pilgrims.

“We have taken all-out efforts to ensure smooth hajj flight operations this year,” Mahbub told reporters after inauguration of the flights at the airport.

Biman has taken extra measures in ticketing system to check any harassment of pilgrims as per directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said.

The state minister hoped that no hajj flight will be canceled this year due to scarcity of passengers, as Biman has already sold 99 percent of its tickets.

This year, Biman decided not to refund ticket money if any pilgrim fails to travel on the scheduled flight.