NAHCON completes airlift of Nigerian pilgrims from Saudi Arabia

The National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) will conclude the airlift of Nigerian pilgrims from Saudi Arabia today (Tuesday).

The commission’s spokesperson, Fatima Usara, an assistant director, said this in a statement in Abuja.

She said the last contingent of 2024 Hajj pilgrims is set to depart from King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah, for Nigeria, marking the conclusion of the exercise.

She said a total of 312 pilgrims from Kwara State will be airlifted to Ilorin on an Air Peace airline flight, marking the final leg of their hajj journey.”

” This marks the 119th return flight from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria,” Mrs Usara said.

She added, “During the first phase of the Hajj operation, NAHCON ran a total of 121 flights, which has now been reduced to 119 flights for the return journey. The reduction in flights was attributed to the maximum utilisation of seats during the return journeys. The return journey ends three days ahead of schedule, being earlier planned to end by 19th of July 2024.

“The commission’s chartered airlines took 27 days to transport all pilgrims into Saudi Arabia during the first phase of the Hajj journey, with the return phase now lasting 25 days. By the 25th day of the outbound flight from Nigeria, a total of 47,171 pilgrims were transported, while 50,091 were able to return to Nigeria within the same span of 25 days in the second phase.

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“In a closing ceremony at the Hajj Terminal in Jeddah airport, chairman of the commission Jalal Arabi expressed gratitude to Allah for the successful completion of the return journey. He promised the Commission would achieve even greater success next year based on the lessons learned this year.

“The chairman also assured that preparations for the 2025 Hajj have already begun.”

A total of 65,000 Nigerian pilgrims fulfilled the sacred ritual in the holy land this year, with over 50,000 of them travelling under NAHCON while over 13,000 others opted for commercial flights.