As done last year, Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG, Dhaka) will again use its own B777-300(ER)s rather than lease in capacity to ferry pilgrims to Saudi Arabia as part of the annual hajj this year, according to local news reports.
This follows a decision by the national airline's board on January 11, 2023, based on the success of last year's hajj operation, when Biman Bangladesh Airlines used all four of its B777s to conduct 189 hajj flights: 157 dedicated and 32 scheduled.
The number of aircraft to be used this year is yet to be finalised, report The Daily Star and the Dhaka Tribune newspapers. Biman Bangladesh Airlines Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Shafiul Azim told reporters that a task team was working on the airline's hajj logistics.
Under an agreement on January 9, 2023, between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia, 127,198 Bangladeshi pilgrims will be allowed to travel to the Middle East country this year without any pandemic restrictions – nearly 73% more than the 63,146 allowed last year. The hajj season begins at the end of June 2023.
This is according to Bangladeshi State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Haque Khan, who told a Dhaka news conference on January 15 that Biman Bangladesh Airlines will carry half of the pilgrims, while the remaining half will be ferried by Saudia (SV, Jeddah International).
Private carrier US-Bangla Airlines (BS, Dhaka) told the newspapers it planned to operate flights to Jeddah International, Riyadh and Dammam from June. Spokesman Kamrul Islam said the airline planned to operate hajj and Umrah flights, "but our first target is to operate regular flights to Saudi Arabia," he said. "Later, we will try to get permission from the General Authority of the Civil Aviation of Saudi Arabia, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, and the civil aviation and tourism ministry to operate hajj flights," he added. US Bangla expects its first widebody jets - a pair of A330-200s - to arrive ahead of the hajj uplift.
