Hajj: Kabo MD gives recipe for smooth Hajj
Hajj operation in Nigeria will continue to suffer so long stakeholders remain complacent about early preparations for the exercise.
Managing Director and chief executive officer of Kabo Air, Captain Sa'idu Ahmad gave this warning during an interactive session with newsmen in Jeddah on Monday.
Captain Ahmad believes that early preparation for the Hajj exercise would be the only solution to this recurring decimal associated with Hajj operation.
Said he: "Our problem in Nigeria is lack of early and adequate preparation. In countries like Indonesia, intending pilgrims for the 2008 Hajj have already been registered with all the formalities regarding their trip concluded.
"But in Nigeria, we don't even commence preparations until two or three months to Arafat. This is not doing the operation any good," Captain Ahmad enthused.
He also clarified the issue of international pilgrims, explaining that Kabo Air had not entered into any agreement with them but with tour operators.
He assured that the airline would stick to the earlier schedule on the outbound journey of pilgrims slated for January 25 for the evacuation of regular pilgrims.
"Surprisingly, some of these pilgrims claiming to be international are not different from the regular pilgrims but carrying green passports," he retorted.
Captain Ahmad also lamented the state of most airports in the country, which he said "lack adequate facilities", a development that usually slows down airlift operation.
"Out of ignorance, some pilgrims usually blame the carrier without knowing the nitty-gritty of airline operations," he stated.
He, however, assured that Kabo Air, would do its best to airlift its 35, 000 regular pilgrims back home adding: " This is a task that we would insha Allah accomplish."
He stressed the need for the federal government to engage airline operators "on permanent basis" in order to strenghthen the operational capacities of the nation's airlines to meet world standards.
In another development, home-bound operation which entered its second week yseterday, showed that over 26, 352 Nigerian pilgrims have been airlifted back home in 76 flights.