The Saudi Arabia authorities has extended the deadline for airlifting of Nigerian pilgrims to the Holy Land from July 4 to July 6.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), disclosed this on Monday in a statement by it’s Assistant Director, Public Affairs Mrs Fatima Usara.
TheFact Daily recalled that the Saudi government had on June 26 turned down NAHCON’s request for additional 5,000 slots to enable more Nigerians participate in this year’s Hajj exercise.
However Usara explained that the extension was necessitated by excessive flight cancellations and flight delays, adding that nine flights were canceled from from June 10 to June 13.
According to her the cancellations were due to reasons ranging from inability of some States pilgrims boards to secure Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) for pilgrims, insufficient funds for Visas and unavailable PCR test results.
She disclosed that a total of 13 flights were cancelled with another 57 delayed take-offs, seven of which are in two digits, with the highest being 24 hours’ delay.
Mrs Usara said, “It followed by 23 hours delay, 22 hours and lowest in this category are twice 10-hour delays. Only 13 flights left on schedule out of the 65 outbound flights so far witnessed from the country.
“From Monday, July 4, the extension will commence to July 6 for one of the airlines whereas July 4 and 5 have been approved for the another airline.
“NAHCON sought the extension to enable it to transport its remaining pilgrims into the Kingdom for 2022 Hajj. Out of the 43,008 pilgrims expected to arrive Saudi Arabia from Nigeria, 27,359, inclusive of 527 staff as well as committees and board members, under the government quota have been conveyed.
“Similarly, over 5,000 out of the 8,097 Tour Operators’ pilgrims with valid visas were moved through scheduled flights and other arrangements.
“To buttress this fact, frequency of outbound flights improved to seven take-offs on Sunday and at full capacity too.
“Thankfully, one of the carriers, FlyNas, with its four aircraft, will fly four times daily thereby moving 1,732 each day,” she said
Usara, therefore, appealed to intending pilgrims to remain calm and prepared for onward conveyance for the 2022 Hajj.
According to her, the commission regrets any tension and stress intending pilgrims might have experienced during this outbound journey to the holy land.
She said that the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Zikrullah Hassan, commends Nigerian pilgrims’ resilience and prays that they all attain acceptable hajj whose reward is jannatul Firdaus.
