Hajj 2023: NAHCON Completes 80 Flights with 33, 818 Pilgrims in 13 Days
AREWA AGENDA – Barely two weeks after the official flag-off of the 2023 Hajj exercise by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), sister agencies and airlines have so far airlifted 33,818 pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Since the flag-off on Thursday May 25 at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NAHCON and other stakeholders have intensified the airlift of pilgrims to the Holy Land which is taking place simultaneously across the country.
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Since the commencement of the flights with Max Air Plane conveying over 400 Nasarawa pilgrims, 79 other flights have taken off from Abuja, Ilorin, Bauchi, Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Lagos, Gombe and other cities.
Aside from Max Air, other airlines that were engaged to convey pilgrims to the Holy Land include Flynas, Air Peace, Aero Contractors and Azman.
PRNIGERIA can report that with Max Air flight NGL3021 which departed Gombe to Madinah on Wednesday at 20:13hrs with 554 pilgrims (350 Males, 204 Females) and 5 Officials, a milestone of 80 flights have been achieved and a total number of 33,818 pilgrims have been airlifted to the Holy Land so far.
NAHCON boss, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, had told journalists after the inaugural flight ceremony that all Nigerian pilgrims would be airlifted within 25 days from 15 take-off points across the country.
The King Fahd International Airport, Jeddah, is expected to be shut on the 22nd of June, 2023.
