Country’s first hajj flight leaves for Saudi Arabia with 415 pilgrims

Dhaka: Country’s first hajj flight carrying 415 pilgrims left Dhaka for Saudi Arabia on May 21.

Flight BG-3001 of Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:20 am (local time) and reached Jeddah at 7:20 am (local time).

State Minister for Civil Aviation Md Mahbub Ali, State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan and several high-ranking government officials were present on the occasion at the airport.

Four more hajj flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines will be departing from Dhaka for Jeddah throughout the day.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated this year's hajj programme on May 19.

In 2023, a total of 122,221 pilgrims from Bangladesh are going to perform hajj. Of them, 61,111 will fly on Biman and the rest either on SAUDIA or Flynas.

The number of pilgrims from Bangladesh was 57,585 in 2022 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 127,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh performed hajj in 2019.

Hajj is expected to be held on June 27 depending on the sighting of the moon.