A Saudi-designated Nigerian Hajj airline, Flynas, has organised a two-day workshop for over 100 of its Nigerian staff across the country in preparation for the 2025 Hajj airlift.
The first batch of Nigerian Hajj contingents is set to depart for Saudi Arabia on May 9, 2025, according to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
More than 100 company staff, including station managers, flight dispatchers, duty officers, boarding and ticketing officers, ICT officers, as well as administrative and financial officers, attended the workshop held between Friday and Saturday in Kaduna.
The Managing Director, First Planet Travels and General Sales Agent (GSA) of Flynas in Nigeria, Alhaji Umar Kaila, stated that the workshop is part of the annual refresher courses organised for the airline staff before each Hajj operation.
He mentioned that the workers will depart to their respective stations across the country to commence the 2025 Hajj airlift.
“We take the training and retraining of our more than 100 workforce in Nigeria very seriously. We brought them here in Kaduna to refresh their knowledge on what they need to do to facilitate a seamless 2025 Hajj operation, as we have done for the last 10 years,” Mr. Kaila said.
He added, “Flynas has proved that Nigerian pilgrims are kings based on the excellent and world-class services it has been rendering to them since its debut in Nigeria in 2014.”
The Flynas chief encouraged the staff to use the refresher course as an opportunity to gain up-to-date knowledge in the aviation industry and enhance their efforts in providing world-class services to Nigerian pilgrims.
“Flynas’ emphasis on training and retraining is integral to our successes in Nigeria over the past 10 years. Therefore, you should not rest on your oars in sustaining this success story achieved through hard work, commitment, and unparalleled professionalism that is synonymous with our global brand,” Mr. Kaila, represented by the company’s Manager of Administration, Mr. Abubakar Idris Muhammed, told the participants in his opening remarks at the workshop.
The workshop, ‘Enhancing Customer Care and Passenger Handling in Airlines Operations,’ was facilitated by Mr. Shadrach Swanteh Kambai of CLIQJETS Consulting.
Additionally, Mr. Nuruddeen M. Abdallah of Bibty and Bibty Media Ltd engaged the participants on ‘Airline Officials as Brand Ambassadors: Effective Communication with Pilgrims as Panacea for Successful Hajj Operation.’
Flynas has airlifted over 162,024 Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage seamlessly without any hitches for 10 consecutive years under a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between the kingdom and Nigeria.
The airline, which deployed nine aircraft for the 2025 Hajj operation, was allocated 12,506 pilgrims from the Federal Capital Territory, Kebbi, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Sokoto, and Zamfara states.
Flynas operates from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Sultan Abubakar III International Airport, Sokoto; Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos; and Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State.
The airline boasts a fleet of 61 aircraft, operating over 1,500 weekly flights across 139 routes to more than 70 domestic and international destinations in 30 countries.
