By; Abdull-Azeez Ahmed Kadir, Makkah.
The return airlift of Nigerian pilgrims from Saudi Arabia is expected to commence Tuesday 4th of July, 2023.
Engineer Umar Sanda Goni , Head of Aviation matters of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, made this known at the post Arafah meeting in Makkah.
Goni said the process of early arrival, early exit by the pilgrims would be adhered to in airlifting of the pilgrims back to Nigeria after the Hajj exercise.
He explained further that the Saudi authorities have come up with a policy that in the first two weeks, the air carriers would not operate maximally due to volume of traffic and the large number of aircrafts involved in the airlift of pilgrims of different nations taking off from a single Airport; the King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah.
Goni however said though Nigerian carriers have been given permission to airlift pilgrims from Madinah International Airport back home, it will little aid Nigeria, as more than 90 percent of Nigerian pilgrims have already visited Madinah, and transporting them again to Madinah would be counter productive, even for their luggage alone.
He however stressed that meeting with the Saudi authorities would be held to review the policy and grant Nigeria an exception for this year.
He was quick to point out to pilgrims who are anxious to return to Nigeria that every pilgrim is expected to spend 40 days plus or minus 3 days in the holy land.
Goni also pointed out that the Saudi authorities policy of pilgrims not buying Zamzam water is still in place, and most of the Zamzam water has already been taken to Nigeria. Pilgrims pick their own using their tags at their arrival points.
