Biman Bangladesh airlines and other operators today are set to wrap up their pre-hajj flight operations carrying 4,463 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia to perform the holy hajj ahead of midnight today, officials said here.

“The last aircraft, a Saudi-based Flynas carrier, will depart Dhaka with 424 pilgrims on board at 10:55pm,” Director of Bangladesh Hajj Office Mohammad Lokman Hossain said.

He said 11 pre Hajj flights are to operate until midnight while most of them by now took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and of them Biman operated three flights, Saudi Airlines four and the rest four were of Flynas Airlines.

The official said that 78,454 pilgrims received Saudi visas this year to perform Hajj and of them 4,565 would perform the ritual under government management, while 73,889 would perform Hajj through 660 agencies private Hajj agencies.

Of the three airlines, Biman operated the maximum 98 flights followed by Saudi Airlines, running 73 flights and Flynas operating 30 crafts, carrying the pilgrims to Saudi cities of Jeddah and holy city of Madinah. Biman carried 38,616 pilgrims.

According to the Hajj office, 18 Bangladeshi pilgrims died of natural causes till yesterday and among them, 13 were men and five were women while of the deceased, 13 died in Makkah and five in Medina.

The first Hajj flight, BG3001, carrying 418 pilgrims, departed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on April 17 at 11:57pm.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated Hajj flight operations seeing of the first batch of pilgrims.

According to the Islamic (Hijri) lunar calendar the holy Hajj will be observed in Saudi Arabia on May 26.

Bangladeshi pilgrims are scheduled to start returning home from May 30, while the last return flight is set for June 30.