Shawdesh desk:

This year’s first Hajj flight has left Dhaka for Jeddah on Sunday morning.

A BG-3001 dedicated flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying 410 Bangladeshi pilgrims, took off the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 9:15am on the day.

State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali and State Minister for Religious Affairs Md Faridul Haque Khan saw the pilgrims off at the airport in the capital.

They also offered a special prayer seeking the blessings of Almighty Allah for safe Hajj journey of pilgrims.

After a hiatus due to coronavirus pandemic, this is for the first time in two years Bangladeshi pilgrims are going to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to perform the holy Islamic ritual.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the Hajj Activities-2022.

Some 57,585 pilgrims will perform Hajj from Bangladesh this year while around one million pilgrims from all over the world will perform the Islamic ritual, which is mandatory for able Muslims.

Of the total pilgrims, 4,000 will go to Saudi Arabia under the government arrangement, while the rest 53,585 by private management.

Biman will carry 28,793 pilgrims from Bangladesh through 65 dedicated flights. Some 51 flights will be operated to Jeddah and 14 to Madina.

The rest of the passengers will be carried by two foreign airlines Saudia and Flynas.

The Hajj flight was originally scheduled to leave Bangladesh on May 31 last.

But the date has been rescheduled on June 5 for completion of some pending works.

This year the last Hajj flight is scheduled on July 3. After the holy Hajj, the return flight will start on July 14 and continue until August 14.

This year, the holy Hajj is going to be held on July 8 (subject to sighting of the moon).