Staff Reporter:
The first Hajj flight of this year has been inaugurated hours before the departure of the first batch of pilgrims from Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) for Saudi Arabia.
Religious Affairs Advisor AFM Khalid Hossain inaugurated the trips at Ashkona Hajj Camp in the capital on Monday evening.
After the inauguration, the Religious Affairs Advisor exchanged greetings with the pilgrims. He urged them to abide by the laws and regulations of Saudi Arabia and to refrain from any actions that could tarnish the image of the country.
Additional Secretary of the Hajj Division Md Motiul Islam delivered the welcome address at the event presided over by Religious Affairs Secretary AKM Aftab Hossain Pramanik.
Civil Aviation and Tourism Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin, Secretary Nasreen Jahan, Abdulaziz Fahad M Al Ibrahim, Deputy Head of Mission of the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Chairman Air Vice Marshal Manjur Kabir Bhuiyan, President of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh Syed Golam Sarwar, and Secretary General Farid Ahmed Mozumder, among others, present on the occasion.
The maiden flight of Saudia (SV 3803), carrying around 420 pilgrims, was scheduled to depart from HSIA at 2:15am on Tuesday. Another hajj flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the same number of pilgrims, was set to leave Dhaka airport around 3:00am.
This year, 454 hajj flights will be operated to facilitate the travel of pilgrims, including 234 pre-hajj flights and 220 return flights.
Like other years, Biman Bangladesh Airlines will transport half of the pilgrims, while Saudia Airlines and Flynas will carry the other half.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate 118 jets, Saudia Airlines 80 and Flynas 34.
A total of 87,100 pilgrims from Bangladesh are set to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year. The government will oversee the travels of 5,200 pilgrims while trips of the remaining 81,900 will be managed by private Hajj journey operators.
At least 73 percent of the pilgrims have secured their visas so far and the rest of the pilgrims will also be able get visa before their journey.
Hajj for the Islamic year 1446 or 2025 will take place on 5 June, depending on moon sighting.
In continuation of the previous year, the immigration, boarding and check-in for the Bangladesh side will be completed at the Hajj camp, and Saudi pre-arrival processing will take place at HSIA. The pre-Hajj flights will continue until 31 May.
Most pilgrims from Bangladesh will travel under the “Route to Makkah Initiative”.
It aims to provide high-quality transport service to Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia from those beneficiary countries.
Saudi Arabia had allocated a quota of 127,198 pilgrims for Bangladesh this year. However, as in the previous years, around 33 percent of the quota remained vacant.
In 2024, a total of 85,257 Bangladeshis performed Hajj. The number of pilgrims has slightly increased this year.
