Biman Bangladesh Airlines has been forced to cancel five Hajj flights due to shortage of pilgrims and there is a possibility that more hajj flights would be cancelled, sources said.

The flights were scheduled to take off at 6.05am and 6.05pm on July 27, 11.23pm on July 31 and 5.55 pm and 9.55pm on August 1.

Around 6,000 tickets still remain unsold as there is uncertainty over 6,000 pilgrims being able to perform Hajj this year from Bangladesh.

“The flights have been cancelled due to shortage of pilgrims as many tickets remain unsold. There was capacity for 2,000 pilgrims on the cancelled flights,” general manager (PR) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Shakil Meraj, told the Independent yesterday (Wednesday).

The Saudi authorities have already informed the Biman authorities that they would not allocate any extra slot for Bangladeshi pilgrims, he said. “If these remaining 6,000 tickets are not sold, the Biman authorities are likely to cancel more Hajj flights,” he added. He also said two scheduled flights, which were to take off at 5.55pm and 9.55pm respectively, were cancelled yesterday due to shortage of pilgrims.

The two Hajj flights have 800 seats.

As many as 126,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh are expected to perform the annual ritual this year, according to an agreement with Saudi Arabia.

At least 6,198 pilgrims are expected to fly to Saudi Arabia under government arrangement and 120,000 under private arrangement.

Last year, Biman cancelled 24 Hajj flights because of a very low number of pilgrims due to complications in the visa system which caused the national carrier to lose Tk. 400 million in revenue.

Earlier, the government had directed all agents to collect tickets for their clients from Biman before they got visa.  However, a few agencies did not collect the tickets as they failed to rent houses in Saudi Arabia for the pilgrims. This resulted in 6,000 tickets of Biman lying unsold.

On the other hand, pre-registration of Hajj pilgrims was done one and a half years ago, but some of the pilgrims are now unable to travel due to physical or financial constraints, according to the Bangladesh Pilgrim and Haji Welfare Council.

Moreover, the government has set a deadline for replacement of Hajj pilgrims—this makes it less likely that the tickets will be sold. This year the deadline for replacement was July 24.

The religious affairs ministry has finally decided to raise the quota for replacement of registered Hajj pilgrims to 15 per cent, from the existing 8 per cent, responding to pressure form Hajj agencies. An order in this regard was issued yesterday.

The Bangladesh Pilgrims' and Hajji Welfare Council president, Dr Abdullah Al Naser, congratulated the Prime Minister, religious affairs minister and religious affairs secretary for raising the replacement quota.