Nigeria: Saudi Airline to Lift Local Pilgrims

Lagos, Nigeria - Alwafeer Air, a second Kingdom of Saudi Arabian (KSA) national carrier contracted by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) to airlift intending Nigeria's international Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia has assured all passengers of quality service.

A statement issued by the coordinator and the representative of the airliner in Nigeria, Alhaji Said Sarki Saadu, said the airliner promised its customers that it would bring its global well known trade mark of excellent services in international airlifting to bear in conveying them to the holy land.

It further assured that the airline would, in accordance with the regulations of the KSA, ensure the conveying and returning of its passengers back to their home countries.

He added that: "Alwafeer Air management has hundreds of years of accumulative experience in serving the guests of Allah and is dedicated to achieving the highest level 0f service."

Saadu maintained that the airliner is the first international airliner that specializes in transporting pilgrims to Hajj, Umrah and visitors to the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad.

Further unveiling the company's plans in the international aviation market, he disclosed that it hopes "to operate from all Islamic population centers around the globe to Jeddah, the gateway to Makkah and Medina."

Registered in September 30, 2009 and commenced commercial operations by partaking in airlifting 2009 hajj season, it has three B747-400 aircraft with 450 seats, with a unified economy class among its fleet.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia and Sudan are some of the markets the airline projects to cover in the next three years.

Others are Morocco, Libya, Algeria, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Gabon, Mauritania, Ghana, Central Africa and Europe. "Our aim is to be the carrier that will set standard of service for the pilgrims in reliability in terms of the level of service and dependability of systems and equipment. We also aim to give our operation the efficiency required to keep the cost of air transport at its optimum level," Saad explained.