Hajj flights from Ctg demanded
Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh, and Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh stage a demonstration on the Chittagong office premises of Biman Bangladesh Airlines yesterday with a five-point demand, including steps to reintroduce direct Chittagong to Jeddah Hajj flights.Photo: STAR
Some 200 travel agents of two organisations staged a three-hour demonstration on the Chittagong office premises of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited yesterday with a five-point demand, including steps to reintroduce direct Chittagong to Jeddah Hajj flights. At the demonstration, starting from 10:30am, travel agents of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh and Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh said, without the direct flights, the pilgrimage of 10,000 Hajis was now uncertain. The demonstration was suspended for four days after former Chittagong City Corporation mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury arrived and stated that the civil aviation and tourism minister and secretary were informed of the matter. The remaining demands include reduction of Hajj packages from 45 to 35 days, allowing foreign airlines to carry Hajis, resuming the regular Chittagong to Jeddah flights and introducing stopovers at Chittagong for Dhaka to Jeddah flights of DC-10 aircrafts. The organisations' leaders said for the last five months Biman stated that it would provide the Chittagong-Jeddah direct flights while the travel agents took money from passengers in advance, assuring them of the flight. Biman, on September 13, stated that the direct flights were not possible and did not come up with any alternative, leaving the travel agents and passengers in distress, they added. Biman's Chittagong district Manager Dilip Kumar Chowdhury came out at one point and said big aircrafts like Boeing 747, carrying Hajj passengers, were only operating from Dhaka and the Chittagong office had asked for the Chittagong stopovers of DC-10 aircrafts.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments