Biman Bangladesh cancels two hajj flights for shortage of pilgrims -
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- Biman Bangladesh cancels two hajj flights for shortage of pilgrims -
bdnews24.com
Sunday, July 29, 2018
The suspended hajj flights were scheduled to fly at 6.05am and 6.05pm on Friday.
“The flights have been cancelled as many tickets remained unsold. The passengers of the cancelled flights will be sent to Saudi Arabia on other flights,” Biman spokesperson Shakil Meraj told bdnews24.com.
The two hajj flights have 800 seats.
As many as 126,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh are expected to perform the annual ritual this year, according to an agreement with Saudi Arabia.
At least 6,198 pilgrims are expected to fly to Saudi Arabia under the government arrangement and 120,000 pilgrims under the private arrangement.
Last year Biman cancelled 24 hajj flights on a very low number of pilgrims due to complications in visa system which caused the national carrier Tk 400 million in lost revenue.
The government had directed all agents to collect the tickets for their clients from Biman before they got visa.
However, a few agencies did not collect the tickets for their clients from Biman as they failed to rent houses in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrims. This led to Biman having at least 8,000 tickets in hajj flights left unsold.
On the other hand, pre-registration of hajj pilgrims was done one and a half years ago with some of the pilgrims now unable to travel due to physical or financial constraints, according to the Bangladesh Pilgrim and Haji Welfare Council.
Moreover, the government has set the deadline for replacement of hajj pilgrims which made it less likely to sell tickets.
The council asked for permission to be allowed to replace those pilgrims now unable to travel with 15 percent of the pilgrims listed as ‘waiting.’
The hajj agencies are allowed to send registered pilgrims instead of those registered pilgrims unable to make the trip because of death or severe illness. The agencies have to apply within the deadline with medical certificate and a declaration form.
Each agency can replace a maximum of 8 percent of their total hajj pilgrims following the process. This year the deadline for replacement was Jul 24.
At least 18,000 of registered hajj pilgrims are unable to perform hajj this year due to different reasons, Haji Welfare Council President Abdullah Al Naser said in a news briefing on Friday.
There will be a deficit of 8,000 even after replacement of 8 percent of pilgrims. He said the quota will fill up only if 15 percent replacement is done.
“At least 164,408 pilgrims have pre-registered for performing hajj as of today. But it will be the same number of pilgrims getting the opportunity to perform the pilgrimage in 2019 as this year,” he said, urging the government to allow 15 percent of registered pilgrims to be replaced.
Vice-president of the council Moulana Tajul Islam Ashrafi and other leaders were present at the briefing.
Source: https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2018/07/27/biman-bangladesh-cancels-two-hajj-flights-for-shortage-of-pilgrims
