Hajj flights from Bangladesh begin on 31 May

Flights carrying Bangladeshi pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform hajj will begin on 31 May, said the civil aviation and tourism ministry on Wednesday. This year, the government has fixed Tk 1.40 lakh as plane fare.

Biman will carry 31,000 pilgrims on 75 dedicated flights, said state minister for civil aviation and tourism Md Mahbub Ali while talking to reporters after attending a meeting on hajj management at the secretariat, reports UNB.

This year, a total of 57,856 pilgrims will be able to perform hajj from Bangladesh.

The government has taken necessary preparations to ensure smooth and safe hajj for the pilgrims, said state minister for religious affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan recently.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia raised the number of hajj pilgrims from inside and outside the kingdom to one million in 2022, in a statement announced on 9 April.

Hajj is open to those who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and are under the age of 65, added the statement.

Pilgrims travelling from abroad will also need to have a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before their departure for Saudi Arabia, the statement added.

Last year, only 58,745 pilgrims performed hajj from across the world because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic, some 2.5 million people used to travel every year to Saudi Arabia for hajj.