The Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) has sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention to reduce airfare for Hajj pilgrims. They wrote a letter to the PM outlining the situation on Sunday (November 5).
HAAB President M Shahadat Hussain Taslim confirmed the matter to the media. He said, “We have sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention and to form a technical committee to revise Hajj airfare.”
A delegation from HAAB will meet with the prime minister soon in this regard, said the HAAB President.
In the letter, the HAAB noted that the government’s intervention had significantly improved Hajj management in recent years.
Recently, the High Court termed the Hajj air costs as ‘inhuman’ and sought to know how the Hajj package was fixed at Tk. 683,018 for the current season, up by around Tk. 1.61 lakh from the previous year.
The minimum cost under private management is Tk. 6.72 lakh, about Tk. 1.5 lakh more than that of last year.
However, HAAB contended that the airfare should be lowered to Tk. 1,50,000, as other airlines had announced fares as low as Tk. 75,000 for the Dhaka-Jeddah-Dhaka route under dedicated flight services.
M Shahadat Hussain Taslim said that more affordable airfare is essential to facilitate smoother Hajj procedures for pilgrims.
