The National Hajj Committee (NHC) has rescheduled the first flight of the 2013 pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia from September 17 to 24.

The decision was made after a stakeholders meeting at the request of the Hajj Agents Association of Ghana on Friday.

This was disclosed to the Ghana News Agency in an interview with Mr Abdulai Nashiru, Executive Secretary of the NHC in Accra on Saturday.

The schedule indicates that the departure of the first flight would be on September 24 with Egypt Air whilst the last flight is expected to be on October 9.

The first arrival flight from Jeddah to Accra would be on October 27, with the last flight on November 10.

He said the request by the Agents to reschedule the flight was to save the pilgrims from excessive spending whiles in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Mr Nashiru 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 include the pay-in-slip from a bank, which would be cross checked from the branch payment.

Mr Nashiru said so far, about 1,380 passports had been submitted to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, adding that, 300 of the submitted passports has been issued with visas since last Friday.

He said the committee was fully prepared and set for the departure, adding that, “All the necessary arrangement on Housing, Transportation Welfare and Health had been completed in Ghana and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

Mr Nashiru appealed to the pilgrims, agents and the public to comply with the modalities for the trip to avoid any inconveniences.

The Hajj Village has been relocated from the Elwak Stadium, near Burma Camp, to a place closer to the KIA.