•Hajj pilgrims
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has airlifted over 8,819 pilgrims, representing over 19 per cent, within four days.
This marks an improvement from last year’s exercise, reports The Nation.
According to the commission, Air Peace has concluded the airlift of Kogi State pilgrims, transporting 559 out of the 564 scheduled.
Similarly, Max Air has completed the airlift of Oyo State pilgrims with a total of 1,083 pilgrims successfully conveyed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Imo and Abia States have also completed their operations, except a few “no-show” pilgrims during the inaugural flight. These will be accommodated in the mop-up flights later in the exercise.
For Nasarawa State with 944 pilgrims, UMZA Air is concluding its operations currently with the final flight already on the ground, preparing for takeoff.
Going forward, UMZA Air is scheduled to begin the airlift of Kaduna State pilgrims on Wednesday and will operate back-to-back flights. FlyNas will commence the airlift of Sokoto pilgrims by May 13th and, barring any changes, will begin operations for Abuja pilgrims on Friday.
Air Peace is slated to begin the transportation of Borno pilgrims on Sunday.
NAHCON Chairman Prof Abdullahi Saleh Usman hailed the performance of the airlines, the State Pilgrims’ Boards and other stakeholders for their cooperation that facilitated the smooth and timely movement of pilgrims.
