The flight for Intending pilgrims scheduled for the 2023 hajj may not as planned as hajj fare may increase to above 3 million naira following the refusal of airlines to sign agreement with the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria. (NAHCON).
The Sudan airspace, the shortest route from sub-Saharan Africa to Saudi Arabia, is shut as a result of the ongoing conflict in the country.
Flight to Saudi Arabia from Nigeria is about four and a half hours from northern Nigeria and five hours from the southern part with the aircraft flying mostly over Sudanese airspace after Chad.
Six domestic airlines yesterday rejected the earlier quoted airfare for the 2023 hajj as they refused to sign a letter of agreement with the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) over the Sudan crisis.
The airlines include Air Peace, Azman Air, Max Air and Aero Contractors.
The signing of the airlift agreement scheduled for Thursday was postponed till Tuesday next week as the airlines requested consultations from their superiors.
However, the only foreign airline among them, FlyNas, signed the agreement as it was allocated over 28,000 slots, amounting to 40 per cent of the Nigerian pilgrims.
Speaking after the event held in Abuja, NAHCON’s commissioner in charge of operations, Magaji Hardawa, said the development is posing a threat to the conduct of the 2023 hajj.
He said in a bid to reduce the airfare for pilgrims, the federal government had agreed to remove 65 per cent of all aviation-related charges for the airlines.
He added that FlyNas already has a different package as their participation in the airlift of Nigerian pilgrims is subject to a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
NAHCON last month capped hajj fare at N2.9 million though the state pilgrims’ agencies later increased the sum to N3.2 million.
The participating airlines had quoted $1,783 (N823,746.00) and $2,026 (N936,012.00) as the airfare component for southern and northern parts of Nigeria respectively.
