100,000 pilgrims for Hajj

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) yesterday said that 100,000 pilgrims
would be transported to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for this year’s Hajj.
NCAA’s Director-General Dr. Harold Demuren, made the disclosure in Lagos in an
interactive session with reporters.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Demuren had earlier in the day held
a closed door meeting with airline operators, security agencies and fuel marketers
toward ensuring a hitch-free Hajj.
He said that the transportation of intending pilgrims would begin on September 17
in 12 airports located in Abuja, Katsina, Gombe, Yola, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt,
Ilorin, Lagos, Kaduna, Jos, Sokoto and Kano.
The director general said that four major airlines would be involved in the exercise.
“The four airlines shortlisted are: Max, Kabo, Meridian, Med-View.
“They will be making use of bigger aircraft like the Boeing 747- 400 series and
Boeing 767 – 500 series,” he said.
The NCAA boss said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) would
be in-charge of creating dedicated Hajj routes for the operation without interfering
with the normal international flight operations.
He promised that the authority would ensure that intending pilgrims are adequately
educated about the exercise.
“We shall transport all the intending pilgrims before the close of Jeddah airport in
Saudi Arabia.