The Safa Group has said it is arranging a charter flight for Umrah pilgrims who faced delays due to visa complications.
The group’s pilgrims will be flying to Mecca to perform Umrah for the last 10 days of Ramadan, Dr. Mohamed Ali Zahir, the Minister of Islamic Affairs, said.
"The pilgrims would be flown sometime during the last 10 days of Ramadan," Minister Zahir said.
A total of 130 pilgrims paid the Safa Group for their Umrah trip this year. However, the group cancelled its trips, citing visa non-availability.
The group announced they were cancelling flights on Thursday morning, the same day it was set to take the Maldivian pilgrims to Mecca. The group had even transported the luggage of some of the pilgrims to Velana International Airport (VIA), as they were scheduled to fly on that day.
The pilgrims were outraged by the cancellation; therefore, the Islamic Ministry asked the organisation to reschedule Umrah trips at no extra cost.
The ministry summoned officials from the group on Friday to review the arrangements. After the discussions, Safa Group claimed it would sign with Salma Air to arrange charter flights for the pilgrims.
The group said in a statement that it had to cancel the trips because it was unable to secure any alternatives to flying pilgrims to Mecca for the rest of Ramadan.
The ministry has said that Hajj and Umrah corporations will receive three-month-valid visas for pilgrims. They also accused the Safa Group of not making the necessary preparations. The ministry clarified that the complications did not arise from any rejections on the part of the Saudi government in issuing the relevant permits.
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