1 hajj flight cancelled, rescheduled

A hajj flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines scheduled to depart today has been cancelled and rescheduled due to shortage of pilgrims and visa complexities.

The flight, which was supposed to depart at 1:25pm, has been rescheduled for Sunday noon, Ashkona Hajj Camp Director Saiful Islam told The Daily Star.

Shakil Meraj, general manager, public relations, of Biman Bangladesh Airlines told The Daily Star that the flight timing has been rescheduled by 48 hours.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines -- the national flag carrier of Bangladesh - and Saudi Arabian Airlines have so far ferried 55, 413 pilgrims till today to Saudi Arabia marking the holy hajj this year.

This year a total of 1, 00,300 aspirant hajjis applied for Saudi visas and among them 95,201 got visas.

This year Biman would incur a loss of around Tk 150 crore due to cancellation of hajj flights, said Abdullah Abu Naser, president of, Hajj Jatri Kalyan Parishad.