* Says no flight cancellation recorded so far
One week after the inaugural flight, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has airlifted over 13,000 intending Nigerian pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 2024 Hajj in 32 flights.
In a data released by the Commission’s Command and Control centre on Wednesday, May 22, no fewer than 13, 494 Nigerian pilgrims have been flown to Saudi Arabia.
The breakdown of the figures showed that male pilgrims constitute 7,864 while female pilgrims are 5,630 with 11,635 arriving through Madinah and 1,859 through Jeddah.
As at the time of updating this report on Wednesday, May 22 at exactly 10:50pm (Nigerian time), Muslim News gathered that FlyNas has transported 5,939 pilgrims followed by Max Air with 5,401. Air Peace has so far conveyed 2,154 pilgrims within the last seven days.
Our correspondent also learnt that no flight cancellation has been recorded since the commencement of the outbound airlift to the holy land on Wednesday, May 15, except for a flight delay that resulted in a time shift that affected the Kwara inaugural flight; which was moved from Monday, May 20 to Tuesday May 21.
Expressing satisfaction over the operations, the Commission’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Fatima Usara Sanda said, “As we approach the second week of inbound flights into Saudi Arabia, states that are about to commence airlifting of their pilgrims include Kaduna, Yobe, Kano, Adamawa, Borno, and Sokoto states. Plateau state pilgrims are slated to depart today as well.
She therefore advised the intending pilgrims to be calm and take note that the commission has a policy of First-in-First-Out (FIFO) policy on return from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, adding that the initial challenge in the issuance of Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) to pilgrims has been resolved.
“Each pilgrim is now entitled to 500 Dollars cash as BTA as approved by NAHCON in place of a credit card,” she added.
Muslim News gathered that the outward airlift of Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will last until the 10th day of June or hopefully earlier as pilgrims travel in groups of 45 under Saudi Arabia’s guidelines.
This year’s hajj rites are expected to commence from the evening of Friday, June 14 till the evening of Wednesday, June 19. The timing is contingent upon the sighting of the moon of Dhul Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar.
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