Pakistan International Airlines : PK : PIA :

According to a source, six PIA planes have been grounded for ‘technical’ faults and some of them can be made operational if the required spare parts are provided by the management.
‘The management has not only shown its inefficiency in bringing the aircrafts to service but it also lags behind in scheduling and planning. The airline is not using two new Boeing-777 from its fleet because the management ‘wants’ to justify the purchase of a new fleet,’ he said.

The PIA currently operational has in its fleet Airbus (12), Boeing 737 (5), Boeing 747 (4), Boeing 777 (9), and ATR 7.
A Boeing-747 was grounded on May 14 and it was scheduled to be ready for flying after repair of its engine on June 19. An Airbus was grounded on July 18 and was supposed to be fit by Aug 21, another Airbus was grounded on July 23 and had to be back in operational fleet on July 25 after routine maintenance but it could not. Another Airbus without both engines was grounded on March 30 is still waiting for spare parts. A Boeing-737 was grounded on July 7 for structural integrity check and has to be fit by Aug 10 while an ATR which was grounded in May for broken landing gear is waiting for its replacement.

A PIA Karachi spokesman said only two to three planes had been grounded for technical reasons and they would be ready to fly after ‘routine’ check up.
Sixty three per cent flights from Lahore to Islamabad were delayed in May and 48 per cent in June while 55 per cent flights lagged behind scheduled timing in the first week of July. Likewise from Islamabad to Lahore 70 per cent flights were delayed in May, 53 per cent in June while 65 per cent flights could not reach destination on stipulated timing.

According to a report submitted to LHC by PIA, four planes had to travel over six sectors and in case a plane was delayed for five minutes at one station it would end up with a delay of half an hour while landing at Lahore airport.

PIA plans fleet expansion

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plans to expand its fleet with the purchase of 40 new planes over the next five years, the country's defence minister said on Thursday.

Ahmad Mukhtar told parliament that the planes were needed to arrest Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) growing deficit.

The state-run airline currently services domestic and international routes with a fleet of Boeing 777, Boeing 747, Airbus A310, Boeing 737 and ATR-42 aircraft.

"If PIA does not buy new planes, it will have to close down," Mukhtar said. "When we have the new aircraft the deficit will come down as we will be able to increase the number of flights."

Mukhtar said the defence ministry would present the plan to the federal cabinet this month, but did not give further details of the purchases.

He said that PIA was not receiving government subsidy, but had taken out bank loans that it is currently repaying.

PIA suffered a loss of 135.8 million dollars in the first nine months of the year, according to its third-quarter financial report posted on the airline's website.

Accumulated losses stood at 88 billion rupees (one billion dollars).

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KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has asked the government for its sovereign guarantee to acquire around 12 Airbus A-320 aircraft to expand its fleet, sources said on Monday.

The national flag carrier would return back as many as six A-310 airplanes, which the PIA had acquired from a middleman and acquire 12 A-320 planes on dry lease from the French aircraft manufacturer, the sources told The News. PIA had already gained the presidential nod in this regard, they said. However, the financial consideration to be paid against the aircrafts could not be known as the plan is in initial stages.

The corporation’s management commenced work on the development of a comprehensive business restructuring and turnaround plan to set in place the right strategies and controls needed to bring it back on the path of profitable operations, the sources said. The turnaround plan and five-year financial model was approved by the board of directors and the Ministry of Defence. The plan has also been endorsed by the sub-committee of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence, which concurs with the recommendations contained in the plan.

Furthermore, presentations had been made in respect of the business plan in meetings with the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, which were chaired by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

As envisaged in the business plan, the corporation has devised a turnaround strategy, which entails operational restructuring and assumes GoP’s support in terms of providing necessary funding for recapitalisation, which includes, among other measures, extending existing guarantees and issuance of new guarantees to various financial institutions by the government, the sources said.

As a result of presentations, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in March accorded approval for extension in the existing guarantees issued to various financial institutions by the government for Rs8.5 billion and also allowed issuance of new guarantees of Rs5 billion.

The PIA management believes that the business plan would be approved and accordingly significant financial support would be provided to the corporation in the coming years to ensure its long-term sustainability, they said.

The plan also provides for the identification of additional fleet requirement and how it would be financed.

Jeannot a écrit:PIA va prendre 12 A320s

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KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has asked the government for its sovereign guarantee to acquire around 12 Airbus A-320 aircraft to expand its fleet, sources said on Monday.

The national flag carrier would return back as many as six A-310 airplanes, which the PIA had acquired from a middleman and acquire 12 A-320 planes on dry lease from the French aircraft manufacturer, the sources told The News. PIA had already gained the presidential nod in this regard, they said. However, the financial consideration to be paid against the aircrafts could not be known as the plan is in initial stages.

The corporation’s management commenced work on the development of a comprehensive business restructuring and turnaround plan to set in place the right strategies and controls needed to bring it back on the path of profitable operations, the sources said. The turnaround plan and five-year financial model was approved by the board of directors and the Ministry of Defence. The plan has also been endorsed by the sub-committee of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence, which concurs with the recommendations contained in the plan.

Furthermore, presentations had been made in respect of the business plan in meetings with the representatives of the Ministry of Finance, which were chaired by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

As envisaged in the business plan, the corporation has devised a turnaround strategy, which entails operational restructuring and assumes GoP’s support in terms of providing necessary funding for recapitalisation, which includes, among other measures, extending existing guarantees and issuance of new guarantees to various financial institutions by the government, the sources said.

As a result of presentations, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in March accorded approval for extension in the existing guarantees issued to various financial institutions by the government for Rs8.5 billion and also allowed issuance of new guarantees of Rs5 billion.

The PIA management believes that the business plan would be approved and accordingly significant financial support would be provided to the corporation in the coming years to ensure its long-term sustainability, they said.

The plan also provides for the identification of additional fleet requirement and how it would be financed.

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Islamabad, December 29, 2011 (Pakistan Observer): PIA, the national flag carrier, would start acquiring new aircraft by 2012 enabling the airline to provide better air service to the people of Pakistan as well as attract passengers from other countries. According to officials sources, under a phased programme 30 new aircraft would be included to make the fleet sustainable and increase its strength to 70 aeroplanes.

Initially, the new planes would be acquired on a five-year lease. This deal includes an option to buy the same.

With the option to buy later the plan is conceived to be cost-effective and will be completed by 2020. The government has already approved an overall outline for the scheme and PIA was presently engaged in working out modalities to get the plan materialized. The idea is to turn PIA into a profitable organization with focus on cost cutting measures, in each and every respect, without compromising on quality, the sources said.

This procurement would be through financial institutions without any budgetary allocations or special government funds. All 30 planes would be directly procured from the manufacturers of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. As for resources to get quality expansion in the carriers existing fleet, PIA makes all its transactions through commercial banks. The actual cost for the procurement could be determined once transactions are finalized as each plane has its own specifications. The priority would be to acquire modern, fuel efficient and operationally cost effective planes.
According to the sources, PIA is currently maintaining its domestic and international flights schedule with a fleet of 34 aircraft while five aircraft were under scheduled maintenance after completing their required number of flying hours. The operational fleet consist of nine Boeing 777; four Boeing 737; nine Airbus 310; six ATRs while the six Boeing 747s are mostly used for Hajj, Umrah and Charter operations.
Besides, the Boeing 747s are used for supplementing the scheduled flights in replacement, if an aircraft is taken out of the operations for some correction or maintenance, as may be the situation for the maintenance of its flight schedule.
(THROUGH ASIA PULSE) 29-12 2011