The first return flight carrying Bangladeshi pilgrims from this year’s Hajj pilgrimage landed in Dhaka on Saturday, marking the beginning of a large-scale repatriation operation following the annual Islamic rites in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Airlines flight SV-5806 arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport shortly after 10:30 am local time after departing King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah at 12:10 am local Saudi time. 

Senior representatives from airport authorities and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Religious Affairs received the returning pilgrims at the airport, welcoming them with flowers.

Pilgrims speaking to reporters after arrival said they had completed the Hajj smoothly and without major difficulties this year.

Authorities said they expected a total of 5,434 pilgrims to return on the first day of repatriation aboard 13 scheduled flights from Saudi Arabia.

Each returning pilgrim is being provided with five litres of Zamzam water, a sacred water associated with Islam’s holiest sites in Makkah, upon arrival in Bangladesh.