Senate panel approves plan to sell A300 B4 airbuses

The Senate Standing Committee on Defence on Tuesday approved a plan of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to sell A300 B4 airbuses and replace them with A310, setting aside a sub-committee contradictory suggestion and rejecting opposition members note of dissent. Opposition members also staged a token walkout from the meeting for not allowing journalists to cover the proceedings, Pakistan Peoples Party's Farhatullah Babar told Business Recorder.
"We have asked that what compels PIA administration for selling airbuses (A300 B4) in good operational condition and replacing them with two-and-a-half-time expensive ones (A310)," Babar said.
He said PIA did not have any justification to go ahead with its proposed plan after a three-member sub-committee headed by another PPP member Rukhsana Zuberi had rejected the idea owing to financial reasons.
"The sub-committee has found out that even the annual lease of airbuses being purchased would be more than the total Rs 10.1 billion price of those being sold," Farhatullah said. "Keeping in view all these factors, we decide to put a dissent note to the proposal."
Only five (three from treasury and two from opposition) out of 12 total members of the committee attended the meeting. Former PIA chairman Chaudhry Ahmed Saeed initiated the airbuses replacement plan.
Meanwhile, a statement issued here said that the committee, which met with Senator Nisar Ahmed Memon in the chair, had allowed the plan as decided by the PIA board and suggested that the lease agreement already undertaken might not be cancelled.
The committee made this decision at the conclusion of the presentation and the detailed discussion on the report of a three-member sub-committee headed by Senator Rukhsana Zuberi constituted to examine various aspects of the sale and purchase of airbuses by the PIA, it added.
PIA Chairman Tariq Kirmani informed the committee that a new system of inviting sealed bids and tenders was being introduced in the PIA to ensure transparency, the statement said.
He said the decision to sell A300 B4 aircraft was based on feasibility and it was found viable to sell the old aircraft and lease new ones, it said.
He said that the first priority of the national flag carrier was to ensure safety of the passengers.
Comfort, convenience and cost effectiveness were being given prime consideration so as to bring the national airline at par with the leading international flag carriers, he informed the meeting.