NAHCON Completes 171 Flights with 70,837 Pilgrims, to End Airlift Saturday

NAHCON Completes 171 Flights with 70,837 Pilgrims, to End Airlift Saturday

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, in Makkah

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has announced that the airlift of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj would end on Saturday.

The Commission has already completed the airlift of 70,837 pilgrims in 171 flights which means it has accomplished the task of the majority of 75,00 worshippers it is meant to take to the Holy Land.

The Commission in a statement by its Assistant Director in charge of Public Affairs, Fatima Sanda Usara, said three of the five airlines contracted to airlift pilgrims have completed their quota while the remaining two would do so on or before Saturday.

“Before today, Aero Contractors Airline, Max Air, Air Peace have all concluded conveyance of their allocated pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia while Azman has one more flight to conclude. FlyNas is expected to close the window of this year’s outbound airlift of pilgrims from public quota, due to technical hitches that affected its movement on few occasions. For this and other reasons, 23rd and 24th of June still remain open for landing of Nigerian pilgrims into Saudi Arabia for the 2023 Hajj.

“Hence, while FlyNas would conclude conveyance of pilgrims on government quota by 23rd, Max Air, on rescue services, would conclude conveyance of Private Tour Operators passengers by the 24th of June. A special flight that would convey officials has been arranged to take off also on the 23rd, Friday.

“At this juncture, the Commission calls on any eligible pilgrim with valid travel documents that has not been contacted for the journey to approach the nearest pilgrims’ welfare agency for confirmation and subsequent dispatch to the Kingdom for the 2023 Hajj exercise.

“The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, stands truly grateful to its numerous stakeholders, from within and abroad, for their teamwork principles through which unforeseen challenges were jointly ebbed away,” the statement read in part.

The statement also quoted the Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, to have congratulated successful Nigerian pilgrims, urging them to dedicate their time towards attaining the ultimate Hajj Mabrur.

He empathised with all intending pilgrims who were unable to participate in this year’s Hajj for various reasons, reminding them that Hajj is a divine call.

PRNIGERIA can report that with Flynas flight XY5642 which departed Sokoto to Madinah at 08:23hrs on Thursday with 386 Kebbi Pilgrims (268 Males, 118 Females), a total of 171 Nigerian official flights have landed in Madinah and Jeddah and conveyed 70,837 pilgrims to the Holy Land.