Muslims wishing to perform the Hajj this year will have to pay between £6,455 (N3,765,135.66) – £14,034 (N8,185,889.05) per person, according to a document released by official UK Hajj Telegram group seen by this paper.
The prices are for flights from London and Manchester for two weeks or more in Makkah and Madinah from mid-June to early July. They range from basic packages to luxury ones.
This year’s Hajj will take place from June 26-July 1.
The document was released on an official UK Hajj Telegram group and was based on data from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah which announced earlier this year that Muslims from western countries need to book their Hajj via a new app called Nusuk.
Previously, Hajj tours have been booked through and organised by local travel agents in the pilgrims’ countries of origin.
But now Saudi agencies have partnered with local travel agencies in western countries to help organise pilgrims.
British providers include Hajj with Abu Eesa, Arif Hajj, Dome Tours, Al Hidaayah Travel, Hijaz Travel, Al Hijaz London, Flights Express, Labaik, Hasan Travel and Tours, and Bilal Hajj and Umrah.
Last year thousands of prospective pilgrims from the UK who were due to fly out for Hajj had their dreams shattered abruptly at the very last minute when the Saudis changed the booking system.
Muslims who had already paid up in full for their Hajj were abruptly told that Hajj operators had been left in the dark about booking confirmations by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for the issuing of visas and flight details, with the possibility that Saudi authorities were planning drastic changes to Hajj bookings for western pilgrims.
This was confirmed in June leaving prospective pilgrims devastated and much of the Hajj and Umrah operator industry in the UK put out of business overnight.
5Pillars deputy editor Dilly Hussain was one of those affected. He wrote at the time: “While I appreciate that a move towards an online booking system might work in the near future, and may save costs and time if streamlined and implemented properly, I am personally of the opinion that the Saudi authorities pulled this move purely for monetary reasons, with full confidence that Muslim pilgrims will jump through whatever hoop they put in place to fulfil their religious duty, and any meaningful protest (let alone a boycott) against one of Islam’s foundational pillars is simply unforeseeable.”
Source: 5 pillars
