Kamruzzaman Bablu :
The national flag carrier, Biman Bangladseh Airlines, will deprive of income around Tk.116 crore this year due to the cancellation of 20 Hajj flights, sources said.
They added that these dedicated Hajj flights had been cancelled till the last schedule date on Wednesday because of artifitial ticket crisis allegedly created by some corrupt Biman officials. As a result, the government also deprived of huge revenue earnings.
On Wednesday, the last day of Hajj flight from Dhaka to Jeddah, out of three, two flights were cancelled. The only flight of the day carried 218 passengers, though the capacity of the plane was 419, keeping 201 seats vacant.
“If such trend continues, the hajj flight services might be worsened” a Biman official told The New Nation on Thursday seeking annonimity.
Meanwhile, owners of several private hajj agencies also claimed that they would face a loss of around Tk.50 crore this year due to the Hajj flight cancellation. They demanded punishment of the corrupt Biman officials after a through investigation.
Sorces said, for first time pilgrims had to pay an additional fine of US$100 to Biman to change the booking date of Hajj tickets.
According to Hajj agency owners, the demand for air tickets had incresed highly during the last three-four days. In this situation, some corrupt Biman officials show various pretexts of ticket sortage. As a result, agency owners were compeled to buy tickets from Saudia Airlines by paying additional Tk. 6000-8000 for each ticket.
Mentionable that last year the national flag carrier had to cancel 24 scheduled hajj flights, as agencies were reluctant to send pilgrims too early for the Hajj.
This year, Biman Bangladesh Airlines transported approximately 63,000 pilgrims between July 14 and Aug 15 by 167 flights. Biman started selling tickets for this year’s Hajj flights from May 27, on first-come, first-serve basis.
Last year, Biman was able to manage additional slots from Saudi authorities to operate hajj flights, after a number of hajj flights were cancelled due to scarcity of passengers.
Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minister Matiur Rahman has claimed that some Hajj agencis made have cheated with the pilgrims this year too.
He disclosed this at a press breffing at the city’s Askona Hajj Camp on Wednesday.
He said, “606 passengers could not perform Hajj this year due to the negligence of some agency owners. Action will be taken againest those who are involved with the iregularites.”
The return Hajj flight is scheduled to begin on August 27 and continue till September 25.
The national flag carrier, Biman Bangladseh Airlines, will deprive of income around Tk.116 crore this year due to the cancellation of 20 Hajj flights, sources said.
They added that these dedicated Hajj flights had been cancelled till the last schedule date on Wednesday because of artifitial ticket crisis allegedly created by some corrupt Biman officials. As a result, the government also deprived of huge revenue earnings.
On Wednesday, the last day of Hajj flight from Dhaka to Jeddah, out of three, two flights were cancelled. The only flight of the day carried 218 passengers, though the capacity of the plane was 419, keeping 201 seats vacant.
“If such trend continues, the hajj flight services might be worsened” a Biman official told The New Nation on Thursday seeking annonimity.
Meanwhile, owners of several private hajj agencies also claimed that they would face a loss of around Tk.50 crore this year due to the Hajj flight cancellation. They demanded punishment of the corrupt Biman officials after a through investigation.
Sorces said, for first time pilgrims had to pay an additional fine of US$100 to Biman to change the booking date of Hajj tickets.
According to Hajj agency owners, the demand for air tickets had incresed highly during the last three-four days. In this situation, some corrupt Biman officials show various pretexts of ticket sortage. As a result, agency owners were compeled to buy tickets from Saudia Airlines by paying additional Tk. 6000-8000 for each ticket.
Mentionable that last year the national flag carrier had to cancel 24 scheduled hajj flights, as agencies were reluctant to send pilgrims too early for the Hajj.
This year, Biman Bangladesh Airlines transported approximately 63,000 pilgrims between July 14 and Aug 15 by 167 flights. Biman started selling tickets for this year’s Hajj flights from May 27, on first-come, first-serve basis.
Last year, Biman was able to manage additional slots from Saudi authorities to operate hajj flights, after a number of hajj flights were cancelled due to scarcity of passengers.
Meanwhile, Religious Affairs Minister Matiur Rahman has claimed that some Hajj agencis made have cheated with the pilgrims this year too.
He disclosed this at a press breffing at the city’s Askona Hajj Camp on Wednesday.
He said, “606 passengers could not perform Hajj this year due to the negligence of some agency owners. Action will be taken againest those who are involved with the iregularites.”
The return Hajj flight is scheduled to begin on August 27 and continue till September 25.
