Pilgrims boarding the aircraft yesterday
Four hundred and thirty Ghanaian pilgrims who took off from the Kotoka International Airport yesterday have touched down safely at Madina International Airport en route to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The pilgrims constitute the first batch of pilgrims from the southern sector, the northern one having ended earlier with the airlift of two thousand one hundred and fifty pilgrims.
All things being equal, Accra would witness the five flights made up of pilgrims from Accra, Kumasi and surrounding areas.
Of the number expected to be airlifted for the 2023 Hajj as has been the case in previous years, females outnumber their male counterparts.
The 430 pilgrims will be joining their compatriots in Saudi Arabia to undertake a month-long session of religious rites.
The performance of the annual Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, but unlike the others, the pilgrimage is dependent upon eligibility of the faithful.
Onboard the aircraft to bid the pilgrims farewell were the Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Board, Ben Abdallah Banda and other board members.
The chairman prayed to Allah to bless the spiritual exercise the pilgrims were going to undertake.
The Ghana Hajj Board, he told them, had made all the necessary arrangements to ensure that they enjoy a hitch-free pilgrimage.
Many have expressed the hope that the successful airlift which greeted the Tamale operations would be replicated in Accra.
There are signs that this would come to pass, the seamless airlift yesterday being ample evidence of what lies ahead.
Ghana has a quota of six thousand this year, and sources at the Ghana Hajj Board have assured prospective pilgrims that all who have met their financial commitments would definitely be airlifted.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary had expressed satisfaction about the progress chalked so far in the airlift of Ghanaian pilgrims and asked for cooperation from all.
Preparations are on for the next flight today to be followed by another next day until the exhaustion of the number undertaking the Hajj this year.
By A.R. Gomda