The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on Thursday said that 100,000 pilgrims would be transported to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the 2012 Hajj.
Dr. Harold Demuren, Director General, NCAA, made the disclosure in Lagos in an interactive session with journalists.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Demuren had earlier in the day held a closed door meeting with airline operators, security agencies and fuel marketers toward ensuring a hitch-free hajj operation.
He said that the transportation of intending pilgrims would commence on Sept.17 in 12 airports located in Abuja, Katsina, Gombe, Yola, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, Ilorin, Lagos, Kaduna, Jos, Sokoto and Kano.
The director general said that four major airlines would be involved in the exercise.
?“The four airlines shortlisted are: Max, Kabo, Meridian, Med-View. They will be making use of bigger aircraft like the Boeing 747- 400 series and Boeing 767 – 500 series,” he said.
The NCAA boss said that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) would be in-charge of creating dedicated hajj routes for the operation without interfering with the normal international flight operations.
He promised that the authority would ensure that intending pilgrims are adequately educated about the exercise.
“We shall transport all the intending pilgrims before the close of Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia.
“The pilgrim boards across the states are doing everything possible to ensure that all the intending pilgrims have their documents perfected,” he said. (NAN)