Grace Nwafor
The Federal Government has approved four airlines as official air carriers for pilgrims of the 2025 Hajj.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Executive Chairman, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Prof. Abdullahi Usman on Sunday.
The NAHCON Boss said the four airlines were selected out of the 11 companies that submitted applications to transport Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Muslim pilgrimage.
According to Usman, the four approved airlines are Air Peace Ltd., Fly-Nas, a Saudi Arabia-designated airline, Max Air, and UMZA Aviation Services Ltd.
He stated that the airlines were screened and shortlisted by a team of 32 members that were inaugurated by the NAHCON on Nov. 26, 2024.
Usman disclosed that the Aviation Screening Committee comprised representatives from State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, three members from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and one member each from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
He added that some members of the committee were also drawn from the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
Similarly, Prof. Usman said that one member each was drawn from the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC)
Others, he listed, were NAHCON Board members representing each geo-political zone of the country, NAHCON Heads of Aviation, Procurement, Legal, Internal Audit, and Special Duties as well as Board Members representing the Aviation industry.
The NAHCON boss also disclosed that three excess cargo carriers were selected for the hajj operations.
He named them to include; Aglow Aviation Support Services Ltd, Cargozeal Technology Ltd and Qualla Investment Ltd.,
Usman congratulated the successful companies and urged them to fulfil their responsibilities as promised during the screening.
Meanwhile, Prof. Usman signed the 2025 Hajj Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on behalf of the Nigerian Government.
