NAHCON signs airlift agreement with 2019 air carriers
Three airlines have been approved by the presidency for 2019 Hajj operations. They are Max Air Ltd, Medview Airlines Plc, and FlyNas of Saudi Arabia.
The Commission’s Head, Public Affairs, Fatima Sanda Usara, disclosed this in a statement she issued, signed and sent to The DEFENDER on Monday.
She said: “During an Airlift Signing Agreement held today, 20thMay, 2019 at the Nigerian Hajj Commission’s Head Office in Sokoto House Abuja, the Chairman of the Commission, Barrister AbdullahiMukhtar Muhammad enjoined the approved air carriers to discharge their responsibilities diligently to pilgrims who are sole sponsors of the contract for the airlift.
“Therefore, they owe a moral responsibility between them, the pilgrims, The Almighty to whom the pilgrims are special guests and the Commission for selecting them and vouching for them on behalf of the pilgrims.
“While declaring that there is no room for failure in the Hajj exercise, the NAHCON helmsman charged the airline operators to liaise with the necessary security agencies in ensuring safety and security of pilgrims under the best possible comfortable manner.
“They were reminded that intending pilgrims are international travellers; therefore they must be accorded same standard and quality service as any international client.
“The Chairman reiterated that the desire of any pilgrim after the Hajj exercise is early return to the country along with their luggage and Zamzam water; hence they must not compromise on the standard set by the Commission on luggage dispatch.
“Similarly, the carriers must scrutinize their staff to guarantee that only honest persons are assigned tasks of dealing with pilgrims so as to avoid being compromised by miscreants. Finally, Barrister Mukhtar tasked them to review past operations and address observed lapses as a team.
“In his acceptance speech, Chief Munir Bankole, Chief Executive Officer of Medview Airlines thanked the Commission and declared their total commitment to the dutiful discharge of the task ahead whose significance they all are well aware of. He prayed to God for a hitch free 2019 Hajj exercise.
“Present at the signing agreement are representatives of Medview Airline led by its CEO, Chief MuneerBankole, representatives of Max Air led by CEO, Alhaji Bashir B. Mangal and representatives of FlyNas in person of Yasser Ajlan and others who flew in from Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Meanwhile, Max Air has been allocated 51.00% slot for pilgrims airlift from Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe ,Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Taraba and Kogi.
Medview has a 14.00% allocation of pilgrims from AkwaIbom, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna, Ogun, Ondo, Yobe, Abia, Imo, Anambra, Bayelsa, Rivers and Armed Forces.Flynas is charged with transportation of 35.00% of pilgrims from Sokoto state, Oyo, Osun, FCT, Edo, Kebbi, Lagos and Zamfara states.
