The Hajj Flights carrying Bangladeshi pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj will begin on May 21.
The national flag carrier will operate 159 pre-hajj flights and 152 post-hajj flights
The return hajj flights will begin on August 2, Biman’s Managing Director and CEO Shafiqul Azim confirmed the information in a press conference in Dhaka on Sunday.
The national flag carrier will operate 159 pre-hajj flights and 152 post-hajj flights with its Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft, he added.
On February 1, the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced the hajj package for 2023 in a memorandum. According to the package, a person has to pay a hefty amount of Tk6.83 lakh to perform hajj this year – up from Tk5.22 lakh in 2022.
As of March 15, a total of 9,569 people have registered for hajj under government management and another 91,246 people under private management.
There are still 25,480 empty quotas for registration.
Last year, altogether 57,856 pilgrims performed Hajj because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, some 2.5 million people used to travel every year to Saudi Arabia for Hajj.
This year, Hajj will be held on 9th day of Zilhaj (June 28) depending on moon sighting.
