Pakistan leases 2 Boeing aircraft from Turkish operator

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan’s national flag carrier has inducted two Boeing 737-800 aircraft obtained on wet lease from a Turkish operator, an airline spokesman announced on Friday.

In a statement, PIA spokesman Danyal Hussein said Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) acquired the passenger planes earlier this week from Turkey’s Pegasus Airlines, which will provide two more aircraft on a later date.

The decision to acquire the aircraft had been taken to meet the immediate shortage of planes, which was created after the grounding of four A-310 aircraft at the end of last year, Hussein said.

In December 2016, the A-310 aircraft were grounded following the crash of one such plane in northeastern Pakistan that killed all 48 passengers and crew, including the country's famous singer-turned-preacher, Junaid Jamshed.

The narrow-body 737-800 aircraft have a capacity to carry 189 passengers in an all-economy configuration, the PIA spokesman said, adding the aircraft had been used in six domestic flights on Friday.

The PIA is reportedly facing a severe shortage of aircraft amid numerous complaints of internal mismanagement.

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan’s national flag carrier has inducted two Boeing 737-800 aircraft obtained on wet lease from a Turkish operator, an airline spokesman announced on Friday.

The decision to acquire the aircraft had been taken to meet the immediate shortage of planes, which was created after the grounding of four A-310 aircraft at the end of last year, Hussein said.

The narrow-body 737-800 aircraft have a capacity to carry 189 passengers in an all-economy configuration, the PIA spokesman said, adding the aircraft had been used in six domestic flights on Friday.

The PIA is reportedly facing a severe shortage of aircraft amid numerous complaints of internal mismanagement.