JEDDAH, 2 January —— Transport arrangements for some 25,000 Bangladeshis who will perform Haj this year have been finalized, according to Ahmad Kamal, Biman Bangladesh Airlines' regional manager for the Western Province.
Kamal told Arab News yesterday that the airline would operate 60 chartered flights between Dhaka and Jeddah. Some of the pilgrims will travel by scheduled flights of Biman and Saudi Arabian Airlines. Saudia operates 11 flights to Dhaka every week, while Biman has four weekly flights to Jeddah and five to Riyadh, one of them extended to Dhahran. The chartered flights will be operated using Boeing 747 and DC-10 aircraft between late January and early March.
"We were aiming at bringing upward of 30,000 pilgrims this time, but due to flight constraints we have reduced the number," Kamal said. "We had a similar experience last year when we planned for 27,000 pilgrims but could bring only 23,000," he added.
The number of Bangladeshi pilgrims this year is expected to rise by 2,000 over last year. Their total number will finally go up because besides the 25,000 pilgrims who will travel will be arranged by the authorities in Dhaka, several others will come using international passports making travel arrangements on their own.
Kamal said Bangladeshi pilgrims as well as those from the Far East like Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Burma, and from some South Asian countries who travel on Biman flights, would be given intensified orientation both at their embarkation point in Dhaka and on board the aircraft. Thus they will be equipped with full information about the rituals and Saudi regulations and lifestyle.
A spokesman at the Bangladesh Consulate General said its Haj wing is fully geared to serve the incoming pilgrims.
A high-level Haj goodwill delegation will be coming on behalf of the Bangladeshi government. Last year, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajed led a 13-member entourage of relatives and senior officials for the annual pilgrimage.
