Sylhet Bureau :
Direct Hajj flights from Sylhet are starting on May 14. On the first day, a Biman flight carrying 419 passengers will leave Osmani International Airport for Medina. Like last time, a total of 5 Hajj flights will be operated from Sylhet.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines District Manager Shahnewaj Majumdar confirmed the matter.
It is learned that this time too, under the ‘Road to Mecca’ programme, the immigration of the passengers from the two countries will be held in Dhaka. However, the immigration of the passengers traveling through Osmani International Airport to Saudi Arabia will be held in Saudi Arabia.
Biman’s Sylhet office sources said that keeping in mind the suffering of the pilgrims in the Sylhet region, it has been decided to operate 5 Hajj flights from Sylhet Osmani International Airport this time. A total of 2,095 pilgrims, 419 people each, will be transported in the 5 flights. Except for the first day’s flight, the remaining flights will be operated on the Sylhet-Jeddah route. The schedule of these four flights is May 23, 25, 26 and 29.
Talking to the leaders of the Haj Agencies of Bangladesh (HAB) and the Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) Sylhet Zone, it was learned that there are 2,700 pilgrims from Sylhet this time. They are extremely uncomfortable because of the restriction of 1,000 pilgrims per agency in this year’s Hajj quota management. Although more than a hundred agencies work in the Sylhet region, 15-20 agencies were active in the field. Later, they jointly carried out all the activities including the registration of pilgrims from Sylhet through three lead agencies. These three big agencies are Latif Travels Private Limited, Elite Travels and Al Ihsan Travels.
Sources said that apart from the three lead agencies, the agencies that have worked as coordinating agencies in collecting Hajj pilgrims include Iqra Travels and Tours, Sipar Air Service, Al Mansur Air Service, Rabbani Aviation Services, Ababil Air Service, Travelon Air Services, Al Sharifine Travels, Nibras Travels, Tashfiq Travels, City Overseas, Soma International Services, Jatrik Travels, Aqaba Trading Corporation, Alfa Travels, Khaja Travels, Sunshine Travels, Aqaba Travels, Ishra Travels, etc.
Meanwhile, Syed Fakhrul Islam, accountant of the Islamic Foundation Sylhet, said that 33 people are officially registering Hajj pilgrims from Sylhet.
Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) Sylhet Zone Chairman Mohammad Ziaur Rahman Khan Rezwan said that every travel agency has the expectation of sending pilgrims for the holy pilgrimage apart from business purposes. However, they are in trouble due to the restriction of 1,000 pilgrims per agency. Due to this, they have to work extremely hard to make accommodation facilities and other activities in Mecca and Medina successful.
President of Hajj Agencies of Bangladesh (HAB) Sylhet Chapter Zahirul Kabir Chowdhury Shiru said that the suffering of pilgrims will be alleviated to a great extent as 5 Hajj flights will be operated from Sylhet. He drew the attention of the aviation authorities to operate direct flights from Medina to Sylhet.
Khandaker Sipar Ahmed, former director of FBCCI and proprietor of Sipar Air Service, termed the restriction of 1,000 pilgrims per agency in this year’s Hajj quota management as regrettable. He said, no other country has such a quota. He requested the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Religious Affairs to be sensitive in this regard.
Incidentally, this year’s Hajj flight started from Dhaka last Monday night. It will continue until May 31. According to the relevant sources, 5,200 pilgrims will go for Hajj this time through government channels and 81,900 through private channels. Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate 118 flights before Hajj and 109 flights after Hajj for Hajj transportation. The first return flight with the pilgrims will arrive on June 10 and the last return flight will arrive on July 10.
