Most Biman hajj flight tickets sold out

Most of the hajj flight tickets of Bangladesh Biman Airlines have been sold out, and flight cancellation due to passenger shortage is less likely this year, said Bangladesh Biman.

The national flag carrier will begin its hajj flights on July 4 with 419 pilgrims at 7:15am. Biman is scheduled to operate a total of 365 flights – including scheduled and dedicated trips – during the two-month-long hajj pilgrimage.

Biman’s acting Managing Director and CEO Farhat Hasan Jamil disclosed the information at a press briefing on Monday.

A total of 127,198 Bangladeshis will go to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj this year. Biman will carry 63,599 passengers while 56,401 pilgrims will go through private management. The rest 7,198 people will perform hajj under the government management scheme.

At the programme held at Biman’s headquarters Balaka, Farhat said there will be a total of 189 flights for the pre-hajj phase from July 4 to August 5. There will be 147 returning flights from August 17 to September 15.

Biman has assigned its four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for Dhaka-Jeddah-Dhaka and Dhaka-Medina-Dhaka routes.

The Saudi government will not allow any additional flights this year.

In order to avail a larger and comfortable seat in front of the aircraft, a pilgrim will have to pay $100 for one-way travel and $200 for two-way.

In case of changing flight date before 24 hours, the passenger will be charged $200 while it will be $300 if any pilgrim desires change within 24 hours of the journey.

Check-in, immigration and customs formalities for the dedicated hajj flights operated by Biman will be held at Ashkona Hajj Camp near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ziauddin Ahmed, acting Director of Marketing and Sales Division Mahbub Jahan Khan, acting Director of Customer Service Atik Sobhan and others were present at the press conference.