Sudan conflict: Nigerian airlines refuse to sign agreement to airlift hajj pilgrims

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) says four airlines have declined to sign an agreement to transport intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia due to the crisis in Sudan.

Zikrullah Hassan, NAHCON chairman, said the airlines are Max Air (16,326 allocations), Air Peace (11,348), Azman Air (8,660) and Aero Contractors (7,833).

He said only Flynas, the Saudi Arabian designated airline, signed the agreement to transport 28,515 intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

The NAHCON chairman said the commission adjourned till Tuesday, May 9, to deliberate further with the Nigerian airlines that declined to sign the agreement.

“The reason why it is delayed is because of the Sudan crisis. We have been told that the Sudan airspace has been shut down,” Hassan said on Thursday at the Hajj House in Abuja.

“The airlines will have to go through another route which from all indications is longer than passing through Sudan.

“We are hopeful that the Sudan conflict will abate and if it does, it means that we will go back to where we are.

“We have planned our agreement prior to the Sudan crisis and we know that as we speak, there is a ceasefire in Sudan.

“We will keep on working with the understanding that the ceasefire will work and the crisis will come to an end so pilgrims from all over the world will able to transit through Sudan to Saudi Arabia.”

Abdullahi Magaji-Hardawa, NAHCON’s commissioner of operations, said President Muhammadu Buhari had approved a waiver of 65 percent of all aviation-related charges on the Nigerian airlines approved to transport pilgrims to Saudi Arabia

“Nobody canvassed for that but as an organisation, we made the suggestion to the president and he graciously approved it,” he said.

“Now the challenges of crisis in Sudan is confronting us and it is threatening the success of hajj operations.

“The airlines are business entities and they are partners in this dispensation.”