Only 5,400 Ghanaian pilgrims are expected to embark on the annual holy pilgrimage to Mecca in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s hajj, The aL-hAJJ has gathered.

As part of measures to ensure the 2015 hajj, which is slated for September 5-16, is hitch free just as previous Hajj under the current Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko led-leadership, the National Hajj Committee has started putting in place effective and efficient mechanism in place to safely airlift pilgrims to and from Saudi Arabia.

As characteristic of hajj organization under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Rauf Tanko, 12 flights, each with 450 passengers on board, will be involved in this year’s pilgrimage.

Although the National Hajj Committee is yet to announce the fare for this year, The aL-hAJJ has gathered that the fare is likely to remain the same. Last year each pilgrim paid $3450 for accommodation, ground transportation, taxes feeding at Mina etc.

The cedi component of the fare, this paper has gathered is what has delayed the formal announcement of this year’s fare; as the leadership of the Hajj committee are said to be locked up in discussions with government to have a favourable exchange rate.

The National Hajj Chairman, Alhaji Abdul-Rauf Ibrahim Tanko, whose tenure has seen some of the best hajj organizations in recent times, was recently quoted by the GNA to have advised Muslims who would be undertaking this year’s hajj to the Holy Land, to ensure that their traveling documents were processed in good time.

This, he said, would go a long way to prevent the pilgrims from getting disappointed at the eleventh hour, just to be told that because their documents were not processed in time, they would not be able to undertake the trip.

The National Hajj Chairman said no stone would be left unturned by the Board to ensure that the pilgrims undertake the 2015 pilgrimage without any hassle.

He said the main challenge facing the Hajj Village was the lack of permanent structures and was optimistic that sooner than later, it would get permanent office accommodation to facilitate its smooth operations.