Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to add eight new narrow-body airplanes to its system on dry lease to modernize its fleet.
The new aircraft which have a seating capacity of 170 plus are expected to be included in the fleet from January to December 2021.
Read more: Govt to offer golden handshake to one-third PIA employees
In order to obtain aircraft on dry lease, PIA management is looking for proposals from different companies by January 11, 2021. The PIA will only acquire aircraft without flight crew.
According to the PIA representative Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the national carrier is looking to improve and bringing modernization to its fleet.
The PIA management was working on this project for the past two years but due to COVID-19 pandemic and its strong impact on the travel industry, the project got pushed back. As per PIA’s spokesperson, the new aircraft will also replace some of the older planes in the fleets.
According to details shared by PIA on their website, the airline’s fleet includes 37 aircraft- seven Boeing 777, nine Airbus-320 and 21 ATRs.
PIA chief Air Marshal Arshad Malik also revealed that 12 new airplanes will be added to the airline’s fleet by 2023. After addition, the fleet would go up by 45 by 2023.
Agreement to operate direct and daily dedicated cargo flights to China
The PIA and Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd signed a breakthrough cargo charter agreement which opens the door for direct and daily cargo flights between Pakistan and China.
The agreement was signed by the PIA general manager and managing director of Oriental Sky Aviation at PIA office.
According to the details of the agreement, the PIA will be functioning seven weekly flights to Urumqi (China). Four flights will be originated from Islamabad and three from Lahore. The program is one of its kind as Pakistan International Airlines have never worked daily cargo flights in this sector.
