Return Hajj flight begins Thursday

The Hajj pilgrims will start returning home from Thursday (June 20) after the formalities of this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Hajj management portal of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Hajj return flights are set to begin Thursday and end on July 22.

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

Bangladesh Airlines’ first dedicated flight BG 3301 departed for Saudi Arabia on May 9 with 415 pilgrims on board. The pilgrims started the official journey of this year’s Hajj through this flight.

The Hajj management portal said a total of 85,252 pilgrims went to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year under public and private management. Among them, 4,562 people are in government management and 80,695 people are in private management. They reached Saudi Arabia by a total of 218 flights from Bangladesh.

According to the information given on the portal, 21 Bangladeshis died while performing Hajj this year. Among them 18 are male and three are female. Among them, 16 died in Mecca, four in Medina and one in Mina.