Private tour operators pilgrims have commended Max Air for coming to their rescue by airlifting about 6,000 of them to Saudi Arabia for 2023 hajj.
While appreciating Max Air proprietor Alhaji Dahiru Mangal for coming to their aid, a cross section of the pilgrims also appealed to Vice President Kashim Shettima to probe NAHCON for approving incompetent airlines for the hajj operation.
Thousands of tour operators pilgrims were stranded In Lagos within the vicinity of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA). They slept in mosques and open spaces in the airport for more than a week before Max Air was deployed to rescue them.
The pilgrims were allocated to Arik Air, which couldn’t transport them to hajj due to obvious lack of capacity, technical and logistic reasons.
The stranded pilgrims had to stage a protest in front of Arik Air office at the Lagos airport.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) had approved five airlines – Flynas, Max Air, Azman Air, Air Peace, and Aero Contractors – to airlift 75,000 state pilgrims to hajj. It also approved Arik Air and Value Jet to participate in the airlift of 20,000 pilgrims allocated to licensed private tour operators.
As a reaction to the Arik Air’s failure and the attendant protests by the pilgrims, the Association for Hajj and Umrah Operators in Nigeria (AHOUN) had to engaged Max Air to rescue them as announced by the spokesperson of the commission, Fatima Sanda Usara, last week in a statement.
Records seen by this newspaper show that Max Air had airlifted 5,662 tour operators pilgrims allocated to Arik Air during the rescue operation.
Aside rescuing the nearly 6,000 private pilgrims, the Katsina — based Max Air also rescued another 5,000 pilgrims under the state quota from Nasarawa (472), FCT (556), Jigawa (559), Gombe (2,733), Air Peace pilgrims from Lagos and Ilorin (420).
The Saudi authorities closed their Jeddah and Madinah airports for hajj pilgrims on June 22. But the kingdom had to extend the deadline to June 24 for Nigeria and other countries who didn’t meet up the deadline.
On Saturday June 24 which was the last day for the extension, Max Air, according to sources in the commission and AHOUN, operated four recuse flights: two in Lagos, one each in Kano and Abuja. This is despite the NAHCON Chairman Zikirullah Kunle Hassan’s claims that the airlift operation has ended on Friday, June 23.
Alhaja Monsoura Said thanked Max Air for transporting her to hajj. “Max Air made my dream come true. I almost miss this golden opportunity like I did last year if not for Max Air intervention. It is unfortunate that the hajj commission chairman said airlift has been completed while there are over 2,000 tour operators pilgrims on ground. Max Air evacuated us to Saudi Arabia i on Saturday afternoon, long after NAHCON chairman had arrived the kingdom,” she said.
For Alhaji Kadiri Ibrahim Raji, “Max Air was God-sent. I almost lost hope after spending one week at Lagos airport. But Allah made it possible through Max Air. “
Another pilgrim from Kano, Ibrahim Musa Garba, “it was narrow escape. Max Air did the magic. And we are in Makkah now for hajj. “
However, another pilgrim, Bello Rauf has said Arik Air should be penalized. “They were allocated pilgrims even though they know they don’t hav the capacity and wherewithal to do it. This should be penalized. “
The pilgrims also urged Vice President Kashim Shettima to “investigate NAHCON to unravel the circumstances that led to the selection of hajj air carriers with no apparent capacity to do the airlift.
“Arik Air, for instance, lacks all the requirements listed by the hajj commission in its adverts for selection of airlines. But it was still selected and approved by the commission. This anomaly must be probed by the Vice President to avert future reoccurrence,” Alhaji Wakeel Braimoh, has said.
It will be recalled that Arik Air has been under receivership of AMCON. Some NAHCON board members were outraged when it was picked for the hajj operation this year.
Some of the conditions outlined by NAHCON for qualification for license for pilgrims airlift for 2023 hajj include: Detail/ and specifications of aircraft to be deployed for the airlift; lease agreement(s) between the lessor and the lessee of aircraft intended to be deployed for the operation and while should be confirmed by NCAA and GACA; evidence of of ability to make available reliable flight schedule for the operation not less than eight (8) weeks before commencement of the airlift, among others.
It was not clear how many of the approved airlines, with the exception of Flynas and Max Air, scaled through this rigorous vetting process only to flop when the airlift began.
The pilgrims had threatened to take legal action against Arik Air if the Vice president fails to investigate them with a view to adequately sanction them.
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