At least four Nigerian airlines have refused to sign an agreement with the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to transport the 2023 Hajj intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, due to the ongoing crisis in Sudan.
President Muhammadu Buhari had approved Air Peace; Azman Air; Aero Contractors and Max Air alongside Saudi Arabian airline and Fly Nas.
They were scheduled to sign the agreement with the Hajj body but only Fly Nas, which was assigned 40 per cent of the 95,000 of the Nigerian intending pilgrims, signed.
It was learnt that the signing of the airlift agreement, which was supposed to hold on Thursday, was postponed till Tuesday next week as the airlines requested consultations from their superiors.
The only foreign airline among them, Fly Nas, signed the agreement as it was allocated over 28,000 pilgrims which represent 40 per cent of the pilgrims.
The Chairman, NAHCON, Zikrullah Hassan, while speaking with newsmen at the venue of signing of the agreement at Hajj House in Abuja, said that Fly Nas would transport about 40 per cent of the Nigerian pilgrims.
He explained that the commission adjourned till Tuesday, May 9, to deliberate further with the Nigerian airlines that declined to sign the agreement.
He said: “Their representatives did inform me that they will be coming to discuss with us, with their Chairmen or Chief Executives Officers where we intend to have more in-depth discussions before we come to 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.
“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 be able to transit through Sudan to Saudi Arabia,” he added.
The Sudan airspace, which was shut due to the conflict in the country, would affect sub-Saharan pilgrims due to its short route to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
With the signing of preliminary agreements between NAHCON and the airlines, taking another route would be costly and require a review of the fare pilgrims would have to pay.