PIA states requirement for 34 additional aircraft

Pakistan International Airlines has stated it needs 34 additional aircraft to adequately make up for an operational shortfall.

Chairman of the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Muhammad Ali Gardezi stated that of the carrier’s 30-strong fleet of aircraft, only 19 were currently operational, and that plans to resume viable routes were being hampered by a lack of operational equipment.

Gardezi also stated that PIA’s process of acquiring ATR turboprops for use on domestic routes had encountered difficulties in finding lessors willing to supply both aircraft and pilots due to Pakistan’s current security situation.

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4 airlines refuse to lease aircraft to PIA

Four foreign airlines have refused to give aircraft to the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on ‘wet lease’ because of security reasons.

The airlines of Eastern Europe and Central Asia had shown interest in providing four aircraft to the PIA when it floated a tender in early June. But after the attack on Karachi airport and firing at a PIA plane in Peshawar, they have withdrawn the offer.

Under the wet lease agreement, an airline provides aircraft, pilots and cabin crew and maintenance and insurance, while under the dry lease the airline provides only aircraft.

A source in the PIA told Dawn that the foreign airlines had offered to provide 180-seater A320 and 737 aircraft to PIA, but now they expressed their inability to do so citing security issues. He said the national flag-carrier was also facing problems in acquiring planes on dry lease.

“PIA is facing the brunt of terror attacks on two airports and it seems that more difficult time is ahead. The government will have to extend its full support to PIA to deal with the situation,” a senior PIA official said.

PIA’s spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar admitted that PIA was facing problems in acquiring planes on wet lease following the attack on a flight in Peshawar. “We are negotiating with some foreign airlines and are optimistic of acquiring aircraft on wet lease,” he said, adding that PIA would get two planes on dry lease by September which would help stabilise its operation. “We are in the process of floating a tender for acquiring 10 planes on dry lease this week,” he said.

Four foreign airlines suspended their flights to and from Peshawar and one to and from Karachi after the attacks.

PIA’s flight operation was hampered a month ago after the return of four aircraft it had acquired on wet lease in December last year from Turkish and Czech Republic airlines.

After the expiry of the lease agreement with these airlines, PIA has reduced the number of its foreign and domestic flights to 26.

With total 25 planes in its fleet, PIA has reduced seven flights on Dubai route, one each on Manchester, Barcelona, New Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka, Abu-Dhabi and Kuwait and remaining on domestic routes.

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Passenger killed in gunfire attack on PIA Airbus A310

Gunmen on Tuesday night fired on a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A310 as it landed at Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, killing a passenger and injuring at least two others.

The aircraft, flight PK756 from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, was on final approach around 11 p.m. local time on Tuesday when it was fired on from the ground while still at 300 feet altitude.

Police report between five and 12 rounds hit the aircraft, including at least one to an engine, but the aircraft landed safely.

One woman passenger was hit in the head and later died from her wounds; at least one crew member and possibly two others, including a flight attendant, were injured in the attack.

The violence comes just a couple of weeks after a group attacked Jinnah International Airport at Karachi when 34 people were killed during an attempted aircraft takeover, followed days later by an attack on security staff at the airport, and a later riot at Benazir Bhutto International in Islamabad, which resulted in tear gas use and aircraft diversions to other airports.

Following the Karachi attack, an Emirates spokesperson said passenger and crew safety “was of utmost importance and will not be compromised.” Etihad likewise cautioned it would “continue to monitor the security situation in [Pakistan].”

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