Staff Correspondent:

Hajj return flights are set to begin on Thursday and end on Jul 22, the Ministry of Religious Affairs said in its latest bulletin.

The first Biman Bangladesh flight bringing Hajj pilgrims home from Saudi Arabia has been scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 11:55pm on Thursday.

A total of 85,225 pilgrims, including organisers, travelled to Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh this year to perform Hajj.

Half of the passengers from Hajj return flights will travel by Biman Bangladesh Airlines while the rest will travel by Saudi Arabian Airlines and Flynas.

The first Hajj flight departed on May 9. The flights to Saudi Arabia continued until Jun 12. A total of 218 flights were operated for Hajj pilgrims. They include 106 flights operated by Biman Bangladesh Airlines, 75 by Saudi Arabian Airlines, and 37 by Flynas.

‘THREE MORE DEATHS’

Three more Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia over the past two days, taking the toll to 21, a regular bulletin of the IT help desk of the Hajj management portal showed on Wednesday.

A total of 21 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims have died so far, as of 3am on Wednesday. Among them – 18 were men and three women. Sixteen of them died in Makkah, four in Madinah and one in Jeddah.