The National Hajj Committee (NHC) has released a provisional flight schedule for the 2013 pilgrimage trip to the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The schedule indicates that September 17 is the departure period for the first flight with Egypt Air whilst the last flight is expected on October 2.

The first returning flight from Jeddah to Accra would be on October 27 and the concluding flight on November 10.

Mr Ibrahim Abdul-Rauf Tanko, Chairman of the Committee, who made this known to Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra on Wednesday, said the pilgrims would be flown from the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) directly to Madina, Saudi Arabia.

He said the requirements for the processing of visas for prospective pilgrims are the pay-in-slip from a bank, which would be cross checked from the branch payment.

Mr Tanko said when the confirmation is done, a valid biometric passport, 12 passport size photographs and a vaccination card on a yellow card would be required from the pilgrim.

He said payment would be based on the first-come-first-serve basis, adding that no payment would be accepted after the deadline.

Mr Tanko said: “The committee will only accept payment after the deadline if the quota is not exhausted and the pilgrim is expected to pay a penalty of $50.”

“The committee has also set August 15 as the deadline for receiving payments from…pilgrims and hajj agents,” he said.

He appealed to the pilgrims, agents and the public to comply with the modalities for the payment to avoid any inconveniences.

The Hajj Village has been relocated from the Elwak Stadium, near Burma Camp, to a place closer to the KIA area following the crash of an Allied Cargo Plane near the Stadium last year.