By Yakubu Salisu, Kano
AZMAN Airline has described its 2022 Hajj operation a success after Airlifting the 7,300 as well as the armed forces pilgrims allocated to the company from 16 states of the federation by NAHCON.
Hajj Coordinator, Azman Airline, Engr Nuraddeen Aliyu stated this during an interview with news men on Sunday in Kano.
According to him, though they stated late, but they were able to airlift all their passengers except some from Kano due to the State’s rejection of the airline as their carrier.
The states are; Kaduna, Kano, Yobe, Ekiti, Ondo, including the South-South and Southeastern states of the Nation, in addition to 2,500 tour operators.
They accepted our request, but that didn’t work out, so the problem wasn’t from us,” he said.
However, that despite some hitches experienced during the commencement of the operation, the second face was a huge success after all passengers with addition of about 150 NAHCON official successfully returned home on the carrier.
Aliyu, however noted that, the most critical challenge experienced during the 2022 Hajj operation remains the ongoing scarcity of aviation fuel in Nigeria which forced them often to fly back to Lagos for refueling before heading back to Jiddah, causing unnecessary delays.
Nuraddeen further attributed the late preparation by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and late announcement by the Saudi Arabia Government also as major reasons for delays.
He, however, promised a more better service in their subsequent operations and the future.