First hajj flight with 418 off to Jeddah

The first hajj flight carrying 418 Bangladeshi pilgrims to Jeddah of Saudi Arabia took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital on Monday morning.

The flight ‘BG-1011’ of Biman Bangladesh Airlines departed from the airport at 7.55am. Three more flights with hajj pilgrims will depart from the Dhaka airport today.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon and Religious Affairs Minister Principal Matiur Rahman bade farewell to the pilgrims at the airport.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the hajj programme for 2017 at the Hajji Camp at the city’s Ashkona on Saturday.

Some 1,27,198 Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims are expected to perform the holy hajj this year.

This year, the hajj flights of Biman will continue till August 26 while the return hajj flights will begin on September 6 and continue till October 5.