Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Zikrullah Kunle Hassan, commended the airlines for their sacrifices in the face of the challenge posed by the Sudan crisis.
“We are not unmindful of the challenge posed by the closure of the Sudan airspace to your hajj operation. However, I wish to appeal to your conscience and sense of patriotism not to further burden the pilgrims with additional costs or changes,” he said.
In their separate speeches, Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, said the airlines were not unmindful of the plight of pilgrims, who have earlier paid their fare before the crisis broke out.
In the same vein, Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyeama, said the call for review of agreement with NAHCON was not to exploit the Sudan crisis for business gains.
“We care for Nigerian pilgrims, many of whom we know to have made personal sacrifices in paying for Hajj. We are also mindful of the fact that the pilgrims had already paid before this crisis broke out. We don’t want to deprive them of this opportunity to make the journey to the Holy Land. We are doing it for national pride.”
The formal pact signing with Air Peace, Azman Air Services, Aero Contractor and Max Airline laid to rest the disagreement between the commission and the carriers.
It also represents remarkable progress in the march towards commencement of airlifting, which officially kicks off on May 21 with flying of the advance team from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
