Bangladesh
Hajj 14 Hajj flights canceled due to passenger crisis
Dhaka, 13 June 2023 : Due to complications in getting a visa for not renting a house in Saudi amid Hajj agencies negligence, flights are being canceled one after another.
A total of 14 Hajj flights have been canceled till Monday. The flights are 9 by Biman Bangladesh Airlines and 5 by Saudia Airlines. Despite all preparations, 5,500 pilgrims could not go to Saudi Arabia at the last minute due to flight cancellations.
Hajj Ministry and Hajj Office sources say that 14 flights have been canceled since the start of Hajj flights from last May 21. Among them, 11 Madinah-bound flights have been cancelled. This situation has arisen because the Hajj agencies did not book the tickets at the scheduled time and did not get the passengers going to Madinah. State Minister for Religion Faridul Haque Khan held an emergency meeting with Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Saudi Arabia's 'Saudia' and 'Flynas Airlines' on Monday due to the situation. The state minister wants to know about the current year's Hajj flights there.
Shafiul Azim, Managing Director and CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines said in the meeting that one flight of Biman was canceled due to the negligence of all the Hajj agencies. They could not pay Hajjatri at the last minute even by booking tickets.
Also this year new crisis has arisen due to 30 percent Madinah bound passengers. For these reasons, he requested the Ministry of Hajj to operate 10 additional flights after the last flight on June 22.
The state minister took cognizance of the matter and asked the Hajj department to liaise with Saudi Arabia in this regard. Saudia and Flynas Airlines gave the same statement.
In the meeting, the state minister said that the Hajj flight cannot be done after June 24 under any circumstances. In this, all the pilgrims are asked to take necessary measures to reach Saudi Arabia.
