The maiden return hajj flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines reached Dhaka yesterday with four hours delay due to pilgrims' 'late arrival'at Jeddah International Airport in Saudi Arabia.

The flight, scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:30am, landed at 2:35pm, Khan Mosharraf Hossain, general manager for public relations at Bi man, told The Daily Star.

"As many hajj pilgrims went out for shopping, they couldn't reach the airport within the scheduled time. But there was no problem from the Biman authorities for the delay," he claimed.

Replying to a query about future flight disruption, Musharraf, however, said it was difficult to make any comment as the return flights had just started.

Biman carried 416 hajj pilgrims in its first return flight BG-2012.

The national flag carrier operated three other flights with hajj pilgrims yesterday, said Biman sources. It would operate 134 flights to bring back half of the pilgrims until November 8, they added.

Meanwhile, the religious affairs ministry said 54 pilgrims, including 46 men and eight women, died during hajj this year.