The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has reassured Nigerian pilgrims currently in Saudi Arabia awaiting their return journey to Nigeria that the Commission, along with State Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, and the 2025 official air carriers are doing everything within their capacity to increase the speed of the return leg.

The Commission has planned to return all pilgrims by June 28, 2025. But the in-bound journey, which began on June 13, 2025, has been slow compared to the frequency of the outbound journey. As at 4:26PM yesterday, only a total of 10,011 pilgrims through 24 flights had been airlifted back to Nigeria. Whereas, one week after the commencement of the outbound journey to Saudi Arabia (May 15, 2025 precisely), a total of 17, 471 pilgrims through 43 flights had been airlifted to the Holyland.

“Please note that the fewer trips being experienced presently in the return airlift is due to the normal peak season air traffic in Saudi Arabia. During this period, all countries are trying to return their pilgrims at the same time, and this creates a heavy demand for airport slots. These slots are managed by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) in Saudi Arabia, and currently, Nigeria has not been allocated as many slots as needed to move its large number of pilgrims quickly,” explained NAHCON Chairman/CEO, Professor Abdullahi Saleh Usman.

In a statement signed by the Assistant Director, Information and Publication unit of NAHCON, Fatima Sanda, the Commission is, however, optimistic that the deadline of June 28, 2025 set to conclude the return journey would still be achieved. “In view of this, the three major stakeholders in the airlift operation have mapped out strategies to increase the number of slots to the country. It is hoped that active discussions with the Saudi authorities will facilitate an increase in the flight slots,” Sanda said.

At present, FlyNas is the only airline running two flights per day. “NAHCON’s plan is to seek more convenient slots for UMZA Aviation, Air Peace and Max Air. With large bodied aircraft, the pace of the return journey will increase significantly, and more flights will be scheduled daily. NAHCON appreciates patience of the pilgrims and their officials and assure all concerned that the Commission and the State Boards are working round the clock to ensure a quicker return trip for everyone,” the statement reads.