Coronavirus: Travel firm faces struggle amid Hajj pilgrimage ban

Manger Shahid Ehatti said the firm would lose a vast amount of profit

An agency which arranges travel from the UK for the annual pilgrimage to Mecca is facing a fight for survival after a ban on international visitors.

Some two million people normally travel from overseas to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, but only Muslims living in the country can join this year's event.

Shahid Ehatti, manager of Sky Fly Connections in Bradford, said more than 700 people had booked the trip.

He said deposits would be refunded and the impact "would be huge".

In normal times the pilgrimage is one of the most significant moments in the Islamic calendar.

But authorities in Saudi Arabia said limiting the amount of people allowed to take part was the only way they would be able to make plans for effective social distancing.

Socially distanced worshippers praying in Mecca in April

Mr Ehatti said the firm had been organising Hajj pilgrimage packages for more than 35 years and that it was its biggest source of income, with trips costing £6,000 per person.

"The impact is going to be huge," he said.

"The hotels, the airlines, the food, the transport, everything is included. We have already made deposits to all those organisations."

He added: "Our biggest concern is that the deposits which we made with them in November/December 2019 for Hajj 2020, those monies are held with them and we don't know when they will be returned."

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He said government financial support was helpful but would only sustain them to a certain extent.

Amina Kosar and Shazad Akhtar had been saving for a number of years to make the pilgrimage

Couple Amina Kosar and Shazad Akhtar said they were "really disappointed" their pilgrimage had had to be postponed after planning it for a couple of years.

Mr Akhtar said: "It's took us quite a while to save and we have sacrificed quite a lot - holidays with family and friends."

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