The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and State Muslim Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards have agreed to commence the 2025 Hajj airlift on May 9, 2025, with the final outbound flight expected to depart by May 24.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Assistant Director, Information and Publications for the Chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Fatima Sanda Usara.

According to the statement, the agreement was reached during a meeting held on April 22, 2025, between NAHCON and the Executive Secretaries of the State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards under the Forum of States.

The meeting, the statement said, focused on evaluating the readiness of the states ahead of the Hajj exercise.

“The meeting is to assess the level of preparedness of the State Pilgrims’ Boards. In his opening speech, NAHCON Chairman, Professor Abdullah Saleh Usman, reminded the house that the Hajj industry is in the final phase of preparation before the commencement of the 2025 Hajj season.

“He called on the states to update NAHCON on the progress made in visa processing, vaccination, procurement of bags, and other relevant matters,” the statement noted.

Details of airline allocations were also announced during the meeting.

“During the meeting, Honourable Commissioner for Operations, Prince Anofiu Elegushi, disclosed that Air Peace has been assigned 5,128 pilgrims cumulatively from Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Armed Forces, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kogi, Ondo, Rivers, and Taraba.

“FlyNas, on the other hand, was allocated 12,506 pilgrims from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Abuja), Kebbi, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Sokoto, and Zamfara. FlyNas is deploying nine aircraft for the operation.

“Max Air will airlift pilgrims from Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kwara, Oyo, and Plateau. The airline promised to complete the airlift of its 15,203 allocation by 24 May. Two aircraft will be used — a B747 with a capacity of 400, and another aircraft with a capacity of 560.

“Umza has been allocated 10,163 pilgrims from Kaduna, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Niger, and Yobe. Umza is deploying two aircraft — a B747 with a capacity of 477 and a B777 with a capacity of 310,” the statement added.

The 2025 Hajj airlift arrangements are based on a total of 43,000 pilgrims.

On health and safety logistics, the statement added, “The Commissioner for Planning, Research, Statistics, Information and Library Services (PRSILS), Professor Abubakar Yagawal, informed the house of the Commission’s preparedness in terms of clinics secured in Makkah and Madinah, distribution of Yellow Cards to states, and finally reminded them not to enrol pregnant women for the Hajj exercise.”

In conclusion, the meeting formally agreed on a departure window from May 9 to 24, while return flights are expected to begin on June 13 and conclude by July 2.