KABUL (PAN): The contract awarded to the Ariana Airlines for airlifting all Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year was illegal and contrary to the bidding process, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said on Monday.
Although a government committee selected the Pamir Airways for offering the lowest fares, the Council of Ministers gave a chance to Ariana, a gesture to support the state-run airlines, said the ACCI head, Qurban Ali Haqjo.
One of the three bidders considered to for the contract to transfer 30,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia during the Hajj operation, Ariana had offered the highest fares.
Ariana's fare was $1,200 per pilgrim, while the Kam Air offered $1,195 and Pamir $900 at a meeting of the Hajj committee. As a result, Pamir had won the bidding, Haqjo said.
The decision to award the contact to Ariana, according Haqjo, amounts to gifting $9 million in public funds to Ariana. He criticised the contract as an attempt to curb the role of private sector airlines.
However, the government had wrested the opportunity from travel agencies that previously facilitated about 10,000 pilgrims, he added, explaining the incentive had been grabbed by the public sector this year.
The Hajj registration process started across the country earlier in the week.
ln/mud