Biman to incur huge losses due to cancellation of hajj flights

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Naim-Ul-Kairm
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd (BBAL) is likely to incur substantial losses due to cancellation of scheduled hajj flights for non-availability of adequate number of pilgrims, sources said.
"We have already cancelled as many as seven hajj flights till today as there was not enough passengers and this has caused huge revenue losses," MA Momen, managing director (MD) of BBAL, told the FE Saturday.
For cancellation of seven flights, he said, Biman's revenue loss stood at over $3.36 million.
"Two more flights might be cancelled tomorrow due to the same reason," the Biman MD further said.
Last year the national airlines had to cancel a number of flights due to non-availability of pilgrims that resulted in losses of about Tk390 million, according to Biman sources.
Sources said Biman will face serious problem at the fag end of hajj flights to ferry pilgrims within limited slots.
Of a total 85 slots allotted by the Jeddah Airport Authority for operation of hajj flights from Bangladesh, the Biman MD said only 12 slots have been utilised so far.
Momen feared it will be really very tough for Biman to ferry all pilgrims within the remaining 66 slots as more flights might have to be cancelled.
At the beginning of the year, the Biman MD said, "in an inter-ministerial meeting we requested the government to relieve Biman of the responsibility of carrying non-ballottee pilgrims."
Instead, he said, "We requested that either the government should take the entire responsibility of sending pilgrims to holy Makkah or leave it in the hands of private sector operators."
When asked, the MD of BBAL said 5,134 pilgrims have so far left the country for holy Makkah until Saturday since hajj flights commenced November 12.
As per hajj agencies statistics, some 46,847 pilgrims, including 5,484 ballottees and 41,363 non-ballottees, are scheduled to perform hajj this year.
Biman engaged two DC-10 aircraft and took lease of one Boeing plane for carrying the pilgrims.