Kamruzzaman Bablu :
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to make a profit of at least Tk. 40 crore as revenue for the first time due to some extra measures taken to avoid cancellation of any hajj flight this year.
Already the national flag carrier operated its scheduled 94 pre-hajj flights out of 189 still Saturday. A total of 66,378 pilgrims already left Dhaka for Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year.
All the flights left on schedule without any delay or cancellation, according to Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Delay or cancellation of hajj flight was normal in the last few years, insiders claimed.
They said, at least 25 flights were cancelled last year due to lack number of hajj passengers, causing huge sufferings to other pilgrims. For this Biman had incurred a revenue loss of Tk.40 crore for the flight cancellation.
“But this year the scenario is totally different,” Mahbub Jahan Khan, Director (Sales and Marketing) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, told The New Nation.
He said introduction of pre-arrival visa for pilgrims also added a new dimension to this year’s hajj management.
This year, the government from the very beginning wanted to avoid any unavoidable situation over the holy Hajj, he added.
“As per the Prime Minister’s direction, the Religious Affairs Ministry took various measures such as holding talks with 598 private hajj agency owners regarding air tickets for pilgrims, accommodation in Saudi Arabia and deposition of mullem fee,” ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Joint Secretary (hajj) of the ministry, told The New Nation.
“We wanted to ensure whether the agency owners have collected air tickets for the pilgrims, deposited the muallem fees and rented houses in Saudi Arabia,” Nuri said.
The Saudi Arabian immigration authorities is completing the immigration process of Bangladeshis wanting to perform hajj at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport instead of the Jeddah International Airport. It also helped us to avoid the hazarded, he added.
“We are monitoring everything prior to getting visas so that pilgrims are able to perform hajj smoothly and the agency owners had to collect air tickets before submitting passports to get visa for their pilgrims. This is also helping to fix the number of hajj flights,” Nuri said.
A total of 127,198 Bangladeshis are estimated to perform the Hajj this year, which is expected to hold on August 10 depending on sighting of moon.
“Biman has already issued nearly 62,500 tickets out of 63,599 pilgrims and is expected to issue the rest of the tickets within three days,” Farhat Hassan Jamil, Managing Director and CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said.
“Biman will not have to cancel any flight this year in the face of passenger shortage as the airline will not refund the ticket money if any pilgrim fails to board his or her scheduled flight,” he hoped.
Besides, the airline will charge US$200 per ticket in case of changing the travel date, Biman sources said.
According to the sources, the cost per ticket will rise to $300 if any pilgrim changes the travel date less than 24 hours of his or her scheduled flight.
The airline will operate 18 flights to Madina from Dhaka and 15 flights from Dhaka to Makkah for the first time this year.
Apart from Dhaka, 19 hajj flights will be operated from Chattogram and three from Sylhet.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is going to make a profit of at least Tk. 40 crore as revenue for the first time due to some extra measures taken to avoid cancellation of any hajj flight this year.
Already the national flag carrier operated its scheduled 94 pre-hajj flights out of 189 still Saturday. A total of 66,378 pilgrims already left Dhaka for Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year.
All the flights left on schedule without any delay or cancellation, according to Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Delay or cancellation of hajj flight was normal in the last few years, insiders claimed.
They said, at least 25 flights were cancelled last year due to lack number of hajj passengers, causing huge sufferings to other pilgrims. For this Biman had incurred a revenue loss of Tk.40 crore for the flight cancellation.
“But this year the scenario is totally different,” Mahbub Jahan Khan, Director (Sales and Marketing) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, told The New Nation.
He said introduction of pre-arrival visa for pilgrims also added a new dimension to this year’s hajj management.
This year, the government from the very beginning wanted to avoid any unavoidable situation over the holy Hajj, he added.
“As per the Prime Minister’s direction, the Religious Affairs Ministry took various measures such as holding talks with 598 private hajj agency owners regarding air tickets for pilgrims, accommodation in Saudi Arabia and deposition of mullem fee,” ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Joint Secretary (hajj) of the ministry, told The New Nation.
“We wanted to ensure whether the agency owners have collected air tickets for the pilgrims, deposited the muallem fees and rented houses in Saudi Arabia,” Nuri said.
The Saudi Arabian immigration authorities is completing the immigration process of Bangladeshis wanting to perform hajj at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport instead of the Jeddah International Airport. It also helped us to avoid the hazarded, he added.
“We are monitoring everything prior to getting visas so that pilgrims are able to perform hajj smoothly and the agency owners had to collect air tickets before submitting passports to get visa for their pilgrims. This is also helping to fix the number of hajj flights,” Nuri said.
A total of 127,198 Bangladeshis are estimated to perform the Hajj this year, which is expected to hold on August 10 depending on sighting of moon.
“Biman has already issued nearly 62,500 tickets out of 63,599 pilgrims and is expected to issue the rest of the tickets within three days,” Farhat Hassan Jamil, Managing Director and CEO of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said.
“Biman will not have to cancel any flight this year in the face of passenger shortage as the airline will not refund the ticket money if any pilgrim fails to board his or her scheduled flight,” he hoped.
Besides, the airline will charge US$200 per ticket in case of changing the travel date, Biman sources said.
According to the sources, the cost per ticket will rise to $300 if any pilgrim changes the travel date less than 24 hours of his or her scheduled flight.
The airline will operate 18 flights to Madina from Dhaka and 15 flights from Dhaka to Makkah for the first time this year.
Apart from Dhaka, 19 hajj flights will be operated from Chattogram and three from Sylhet.
