CHITTAGONG: The first hajj flight, carrying 419 pilgrims, will take off from Shah Amanat International Airport of Chittagong for Saudi Arabia at 7:45pm Thursday.  

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Farooq Khan and State Minister for Religious Affairs Advocate Shahjahan Mia will bid farewell to the pilgrims. 

Sources said that the hajj flight carrying the Minister will land at Shah Amanat airport at 6:15pm. Later the flight will leave for Saudi with pilgrims. 

Some seven hajj flights are scheduled to leave from Chittagong till September 17. 

Chittagong District Manager of Bangladesh Biman Alauddin told banglanews, “We got seven schedules till 17 September, but did not get any schedule from September 18 to 28.”

Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) sources said that house renting is going to start from September 11 for one thousand pilgrims. But it becomes uncertain to arrive there in time due to lack of sufficient hajj flight. 

The sources also said that two more special flights are needed to arrive in Medina within September.  

As many as 98,000 pilgrims from Bangladesh will perform Hajj this year and among them some 9,000 pilgrims will go from Chittagong. 

BDST: 1353 HRS, AUG 04, 2014