Govt allows eight airlines, including Biman, to carry Hajj pilgrims
The government on Thursday decided to allow six airlines other than Biman and the Saudi Arabian Airlines to carry the surging number of intending hajj pilgrims this year.
The Saudi authorities have approved Bangladesh’s application for allowing 93,900 people to perform hajj in 2010 while the number was 59,029 in 2009.
‘We have decided to allow four airlines to carry hajj passengers on their scheduled flights. Two more airlines from Saudi Arabia will also be permitted to ferry hajjis through dedicated flights on the Dhaka-Jeddah route,’ civil aviation minister GM Quader told reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting at the secretariat.
The Bangladesh mission in Riyadh has confirmed that the religious affairs ministry’s application for allowing 93,900 pilgrims has been approved by the Saudi authorities, he added.
The minister said that two airlines from Saudi Arabia—Al Wafir and National Air Service—would be allowed for the first time to carry Bangladeshi hajjis.
‘Al Wafir and NAS will carry 15,000 hajj passengers and the four others—Gulf Air, Etihad Airways, Kuwait Airways and Qatar Airways—are expected to carry 11,000 on their scheduled flights.
‘The airlines will have single transit on the way to and from Jeddah and the stopover will not exceed three hours,’ the minister said, adding that a set of guidelines had been framed for the third carrier.
A total of nine airlines, most of them operating flights in the Middle East route, offered proposals for carrying the hajjis.
Senior officials from the religious affairs ministry and representatives from the airlines, among others, attended the meeting.
Every year, the government allows Biman and Saudi Arabian Airlines to jointly ferry the Bangladeshi hajj passengers to avoid any hassle for them.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited, now facing serious disruptions in its scheduled flights for fleet crisis, is prepared to carry 40,000 pilgrims while Saudi Arabian Airlines has consented to carry 28,000, according to the minister.
Initially, the religious affairs ministry had set a target that a total of 75,000 people, both under the management of the government and the private hajj agencies, would be allowed to perform hajj in 2010, Quader said.
The government on August 10 decided to allow a ‘third carrier’ other than Biman and the Saudi Arabian Airlines to ferry Hajj pilgrims to and from Jeddah at $1,350 for each passenger.
‘We have taken all preparations to ensure smooth transportation of the hajjis. Biman has taken two Boeing 747s on lease to carry hajj passengers,’ GM Quader said relying to a question.
Hajj flights to Jeddah will begin on October 8 and end on November 12 while the return flights will begin on November 22 and end on December 21.
Hajj, the biggest congregation of the Muslims, will take place in the middle of November, said officials.
