Hajj flights to begin on July 04

FE Team | Published: May 11, 2019 22:44:46

FE Report
This year's Hajj flights will start on July 04 and continue till August 05, Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) said on Saturday.
Return flights are scheduled to begin from August 17, M Shahadat Hossain Taslim, president of HAAB, said at a press conference held at a city hotel.
HAAB also urged the Biman Bangladesh Airlines and other airliners to increase the number of flights to facilitate the journey for intending Umrah Hajj pilgrims.
Besides, it called upon the people not to pay the middlemen money for Hajj purposes.
"Don't make any financial transaction with the middlemen for Hajj purposes. Please deposit your Hajj money directly with Hajj agencies and take money receipts," Mr Taslim told the press briefing on "high prices and unavailability of air tickets of Umrah Hajj flights".
Calling upon the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) to help increase the number of flights, he said it is uncertain whether some 20,000 Bangladeshis could perform Umrah Hajj due to high prices and scarcity of air tickets.
He said pilgrims intending to perform Umrah Hajj have already spent money on visa and hotel booking.
"If they don't get air tickets on time, they might incur financial losses," he said.
Due to a growing number of Umrah Hajj pilgrims, the airliners have increased ticket prices at their will, according to intending Hajj pilgrims and HAAB.
Mr Taslim suggested the Biman Bangladesh Airlines reduce the number of flights on Thailand and Malaysia routes that usually carry an insignificant number of passengers.
Biman should reduce some flights on these routes and operate more flights on Dhaka-Jeddah route for Umrah Hajj pilgrims.
He also said this year the Saudi government has issued 162,508 'moufas' for Umrah Hajj which is an all-time high.
But the number of seats at the aircraft has not been increased proportionately rather they increased the airfares, he said.
The ticket price for direct Dhaka-Jeddah return flight is around Tk 50,000. Now the rate has been increased to Tk 85,000-Tk 95,000 due to a growing number of Umrah Hajj pilgrims.
He said between Tk 800 million and Tk 900 million has already been spent on hotel booking and visa purposes on the occasion of Umrah Hajj.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com