The first hajj flight, carrying 419 pilgrims, is scheduled to leave Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Saudi Arabia at around 3.20am on Sunday, reports BSS.
"A Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate the first hajj flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Jeddah on Sunday at 3.20am," Biman's spokesperson Tahera Khondoker told the media.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday inaugurated the Hajj Programme-2023 (1444 Hijri) at the Hajji Office in the capital's Ashkona area.
This year, a total of 122,221 pilgrims from Bangladesh are going to perform the holy hajj. The number of hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh was 57,585 last year due to Covid-19 restriction.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 127,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh performed hajj in 2019.
The Hajj is expected to be held on June 27 depending on the sighting of the moon.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
