The government has decided to start this year’s Hajj flights on June 5. Earlier, it was said that the hajj travels would begin on May 31.
Ministry of Religious Affairs has written to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to start this season’s Hajj flight from June 5, saying that the Saudi authorities could not complete the preparations. The letter was sent to the aviation secretary on Monday.
It has been said that under the ‘Route to Mecca Initiative’, this year’s immigration formalities will be completed in Dhaka from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).
But on Monday, a representative of the Saudi authorities implementing the ‘Route to Mecca’ initiative came to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and said that the 40-member Saudi team would not be able to reach Dhaka before June 2.
The letter said that the equipment required for the implementation of pre-arrival immigration activities have not yet reached Dhaka. All these devices will come to Dhaka with the Saudi team. These have to be installed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. This will take some more time.
As a result, it will not be possible for them to complete the pre-arrival immigration of pilgrims from Dhaka before the next five days. For this reason, it is necessary to start Hajj flight from June 5 instead of May 31.
After almost two years, the pilgrims are getting the opportunity to perform Hajj from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia. As the pandemic situation improves, the Saudi government is now allowing one million people from around the world to perform the Hajj this year.
This year, 57,500 pilgrims from Bangladesh are getting the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia for Hajj. Of these, 4,000 pilgrims will go under government management. The rest of the people will go by the private management.
This time the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced two packages for the pilgrims under government management. The highest package is Tk 527,340. The lowest is Tk 462,150.
The Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) has set a minimum cost of Tk 463,744 per person for performing Hajj under private management.
According to the agreement with Saudi Arabia, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will carry half of the 57,500 pilgrims. The other half will be carried by Saudia Airlines and Flynas.
The state flag carrier Biman will carry 31,000 passengers on 75 dedicated flights this year. Boeing 8 aircraft will be used in passenger transport as in previous years.