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Download PDF Biman Bangladesh Airlines incurred heavy revenue loss and fines since the launch of this year’s hajj flights on Monday as six of its flights had to be cancelled due to a shortfall of at least 628 passengers, said a source at Biman.
Private hajj agencies failed to send the passengers, non-ballottee pilgrims, to the airport, the source added.
Besides, another 21 ballottee pilgrims did not show up before the departure time because their travel documents had errors or were not processed in due time, said the source.
A number of ballottee pilgrims complained that the government-managed hajj operation at the hajj camp at Ashkona in the capital is still riddled with mismanagement.
Meanwhile, the Biman source said the national flag carrier would be imposed a fine of around Tk 12 lakh by the Saudi aviation authorities for the six cancelled flights.
“We could not utilise 628 seats because hajjis were not available. This caused a huge revenue loss to Biman as well as to the government;” Dr MA Momen, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Biman, told The Daily Star yesterday.
The Biman CEO came down hard on private hajj agencies for not sending any pilgrim to Biman. “Pilots, cabin crew and other formalities were ready to carry the hajj pilgrims, but 628 seats remained unutilised as we did not get the hajji’s.”
He confirmed that the Saudi aviation authorities would fine about Tk 2 lakh for cancelling the slot for each flight.
“Each Saudi bound ticket costs $ 1250 and we missed that revenue,” said the Biman MD.
Sources at religious affairs ministry said only about 2,400 non-ballottee pilgrims out of 37,000 have completed their visa process so far.
The ministry on Monday also strongly criticised the private hajj agencies for not renting houses and hotels for the pilgrims.
On the second day of hajj flights, many pilgrims were seen running around in the hajj camp to get the errors on their documents corrected.
Muktadir, who came to the hajj camp from Sirajganj to assist his hajj pilgrim parents, complained that someone else’s name (Jamat Ali) was written under the ‘Name of Husband’ on the pilgrim pass of his mother. The correct name should be Aftab Hossein Khan, he added.
The first flight of the leased Boeing 747 yesterday took off from Zia International Airport (ZIA) with 522 pilgrims, said Bazlul Haque Biswas, an officer at the hajj camp.
The two hajj flights that left ZIA on Monday has reached Jeddah, Biman sources said.
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