The maiden hajj flight from Bangladesh carrying 419 pilgrims is scheduled to leave for Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Jahid Hossain, director of sales and marketing at Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said a dedicated flight of the national flag carrier is scheduled to leave Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around 9:00am.
State Minister for Civil Aviation M Mahbub Ali and State minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan will be present at the airport on Sunday, sources have said.
Two other airlines – Saudia and FLynas – will start operating hajj flights from June 10, M Shahadat Hossain Taslim, president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), has said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday inaugurated the Hajj Programme-2022 (1443 Hijri) urging everyone to uphold the dignity of Islam, the religion of peace.
She asked the pilgrims to abide by the rules and laws of Saudi Arabia while performing their hajj rituals there.
A pilgrim will have to pay a minimum of Tk5,22,744 to perform hajj under private agencies, a Tk1,68,150 hike compared to 2020.
The religious affairs ministry on May 11 announced two categories of hajj packages, depending on the distance between the pilgrim’s accommodation in a hotel and the Masjid ul Haram, to perform hajj under government management.
Under package 2, one will have to pay Tk5,86,340 and pilgrims under this package will have accommodation within 1,000 meters of Masjid ul Haram.
Pilgrims under package 1 will have to pay a minimum of Tk5,21,150. They will get their accommodation within 1,500 meters of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Besides, every pilgrim irrespective of performing hajj under private or government hajj management, will have to pay an additional Tk 19,683 for sacrificing animals.
According to the bilateral agreement between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, a total of 57,585 Bangladeshis will be able to perform hajj this year.
Of the total number of pilgrims, 4,000 will perform hajj under government hajj management while the rest will perform hajj under arrangements made by private hajj agencies.
According to Biman, the national flag carrier will carry 29,000 pilgrims by three Boeing 777 aircraft under its 130 dedicated flights with 65 round trips. Saudia and Flynas will carry the rest of the pilgrims.
As the coronavirus situation has improved a bit this year, the holy hajj is going to take place on July 08, depending on the sighting of the moon, with the participation of one million pilgrims from all over the world.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 127,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh performed hajj in 2019.
