Staff Correspondent:

The Hajj flights for this year will begin in the early hours of Tuesday.

The first batch of pilgrims will take off from the Shahjalal International Airport at 2:15am.

As usual, the national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines will transport half of the pilgrims, while Saudia Airlines and Flynas will carry the other half.

Abu Bakar Siddique, public relations officer at the Ministry of Religious Affairs, shared the information on Monday.

Religious Affairs Advisor AFM Khalid Hossain will inaugurate the trips at Ashkona Hajj Camp in the capital, he said.

A total of 87,100 pilgrims from Bangladesh are set to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year. The government will oversee the travels of 5,200 pilgrims while trips of the remaining 81,900 will be managed by private Hajj journey operators.

At least 73 percent of the pilgrims have secured their visas, according to the ministry.

Hajj for the Islamic year 1446 or 2025 will take place on Jun 5, depending on moon sighting.

Like every year, the immigration, boarding and check-in for the Bangladesh side will be completed at the Hajj camp, and Saudi pre-arrival processing will take place at Shahjalal International Airport. The flights will continue until May 31.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate 118 jets, Saudia Airlines 80 and Flynas 34.

The first Hajj batch will fly on Saudia Airlines this year, which will take off from Dhaka airport at 2:15am before Biman operates the second.

On the preparation of the Hajj flights, Bosra Islam, general manager of Biman’s Public Relations Wing told journalist “The first Biman Hajj flight will depart the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3am. We are fully prepared.”

Pilgrims from Bangladesh will travel under the “Makkah Route Initiative,” said Department of Immigration and Passport Director General Maj Gen Nurul Anwar.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Saudi Arabia is implementing the Makkah Route Initiative as a key programme under the Saudi Vision 2030.

As part of the programme, dedicated lounges have been included in 11 airports in seven countries — Bangladesh, Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey and Ivory Coast.

Saudi Press Agency says that the Makkah Route Initiative aims to provide high-quality transport service to Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia from those beneficiary countries.

Saudi Arabia had allocated a quota of 127,198 pilgrims for Bangladesh this year. However, as in the previous years, around 33 percent of the quota remained vacant.

In 2024, a total of 85,257 Bangladeshis performed Hajj. The number of pilgrims has slightly increased this year.