The first return Hajj flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying 416 Hajis arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 02:35pm Thursday.
Chairman of Civil Aviation Authority, Managing Director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and senior officials received the Hajis at the airport. More Hajis were scheduled to return by 3 dedicated and one scheduled flights of Biman on the day, said an official handout.
The national flag carrier will operate 134 return Hajj flights this year with special facilities to Hajis for carrying 47kg goods that include 40kg checked baggage and 7kg hand-held baggage without charge.
The post-Hajj flights will continue for a month. The last return flight will arrive on November 8, according to Biman.
To facilitate the Hajis the Biman authorities will receive baggage at the designated places in Makkah and Madina instead of the airport.
This year, Biman has fixed economy-class fare on Dhaka-Jeddah- Dhaka route at US $ 1500 while for business class at $ 2500.
"Biman is operating Hajj flights with its own fleets this year that helped the authorities save Tk 600 million to Tk 700 million used to be spent for aircraft lease every year," said an aviation official.
A total of 98,762 Bangladeshi pilgrims went to Saudi Arabia for performing the holy Hajj this year. Of them, 1,600 performed Hajj under government management, while the rest under private arrangement, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
The first Biman Hajj flight took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on August 27 and the sorties continued till September 28. The flights carried a total of 50,329 Hajj pilgrims, exceeding its set target this year.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com