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Maiden Hajj flight reaches Saudi Arabia

Staff Correspondent
Hajj flights carrying Bangladeshi pilgrims from Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport to King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah began yesterday morning.
In the first flight Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying 401 passengers departed the airport at around 8:10am. Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon and Religious Affairs Minister Matiur Rahman saw off the pilgrims at the airport.
Biman was scheduled to operate three more flights -at 2:05pm, 4:45pm and 11:55pm - yesterday, general manager (public relations) of Biman Khan Mosharraf Hossain said in a statement.
"Bangladesh Biman will carry a total 51,000 hajjis through their regular and hajj-flight operations. Biman has taken ail preparations to operate the hajj flights smoothly," he said adding that Biman will also carry some hajj flights from Chittagong and Sylhet International Airports.
Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon said his ministry has taken all-out preparations to ensure the Hajj flights are run on schedule.
"A monitoring team led by the secretaries of civil aviation and reli-
gious affairs has been formed so that there is no irregularity in the management of these flights," he said, assuring the pilgrims after inaugurating the maiden flight.
Biman Bangladesh will operate 144 flights while Saudia Airlines will operate 107 flights from Bangladesh, said a press release of the civil aviation ministry. Biman Bangladesh Airlines - the national flag carrier of Bangladesh - and Saudi Arabian Airlines have been selected by the government for carrying the Hajj pilgrims this year.
Both airlines will carry equal number of passengers and maximum luggage allowance for each passen-
ger will be 46 kilograms.
A total of 1,01,758 Bangladeshis are expected to perform Hajj this year. Only 10,000 of them would perform Hajj under government management and the remaining 91,758 under private managements.
The outgoing flights will continue till September 5 and the return flights will begin on September 17 and end on October 16. The holy Hajj is likely to be held on September 12, subject to sighting of the moon.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated Hajj 2016 activities on Wednesday through a programme in city's Askona Hajj Camp.