PIA Adds 8 New Aircrafts on Dry Lease & Agrees to Daily Cargo Flights to China

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced that it will be adding eight new narrow-body aircraft to its fleet on dry lease. The national aircraft carrier has also signed an agreement with Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd to send daily direct cargo flights to China.

Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the PIA spokesman, explained that PIA is planning on boosting and modernizing its fleet. As some of the older planes required replace, plans for the acquisition of these new aircrafts have been in the works for a couple of years. The process, however, got delayed due to reduced demand during the pandemic.

These new aircraft will seat more than 170 passengers. PIA has sought bids from different parties by 11 January 2021 for acquiring these aircrafts on a dry lease, which entails that the airline would not be getting any flight crew along with these aircrafts.

Currently, PIA's fleet has of 37 aircrafts in total, consisting of 7 Boeing 777s, 9 Airbus-320s and 21 ATRs.

According to PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik, PIA plans on adding 12 new aircraft to its fleet by 2023, which will increase the PIA's total fleet to 45.

In addition to this, PIA has signed a landmark cargo charter agreement with Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd, whereby PIA has agreed to direct cargo flights between Pakistan and China on a daily basis. This agreement was signed by PIA’s general manager for charters and MD of Oriental Sky Aviation at the PIA offices.

According to this agreement, PIA will operate 7 daily flights to Urumqi, China, with 4 flights a week coming from Islamabad and 3 from Lahore. PIA will use its Airbus A320s for these flights.