413 pilgrims fly to Saudi Arabia

The first flight of this year‍‍`s holy Hajj - an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims - has left Dhaka. 

The flight left for Saudi Arabia with 413 pilgrims on board of a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG-3301 left Dhaka on Thursday (May 9) at 7:20 am. 

Earlier, Religious Affairs Minister Faridul Haque Khan inaugurated the flight at 5:30am. On the first day, seven flights will leave Dhaka for Saudi Arabia with pilgrims.

According to the information of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 83 thousand 311 people have registered for Hajj this year. Among them, 4 thousand 416 people have registered under government management and 78 thousand 895 people have registered under private management.

Bangladesh Biman will start return flights with Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia on June 20 and Saudi Arabian private airline Flynas will start Hajj return flights from June 21.

The holy Hajj can be celebrated on June 16, subject to sighting of the moon. 

This year, the application period for Hajj pilgrims‍‍` visas was scheduled till April 29. 

However, as many of the 259 private Hajj agencies could not complete the visa process within this period, the first phase was extended till May 7. Later, for the second time, the concerned ministry extended the time to complete the visa process till May 11.