PIA to lease six Airbus planes

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said Wednesday it recently signed an agreement with Airbus to lease six A-310 passenger aircraft for 10 years.

A PIA official said two aircraft would join the fleet in November, two in December and two in June 2004 under a so-called “dry lease” agreement. Dry lease gives the leasing airline an option to purchase the aircraft at the end of the lease period.

Earlier, PIA officials had said the A-310s would replace some aging Airbus A-300 planes. The agreement comes ahead of the introduction of new Boeing (BA) 777 aircraft next year into PIA’s fleet. The first three planes will be inducted by March 2004.

That purchase is part of a $1.5 billion deal it signed with Boeing earlier this year to buy eight Boeing aircraft by 2008. —Dow Jones Newswires

Are any of these A310's going to be freighters ?

[Edited 2003-09-11 23:45:05]

Are these aircraft going to be leased directly from Airbus? (They dont do that too often.)

Any idea on which A310s these are? 200 or 300 series aircraft, previously operated by which airline? I would guess that there are a good number of used A310s around at the moment, as many airlines upgraded from the A310 to the A332 and other types.

PIA is leasing A 310-300s not -200s.

These A 313s are replacing the 6 grounded AB4s of theirs which are in v bad shape.

The A 313s (newly leased ones) will be used on the current AB4 routes of the airline namely to India (whenever DEL & BOM resume), PEW-LHE-ISB, DXB, Saudia (JED + RUH), AUH, BAH, DOH and CMB-MALE.

Any idea on what routes they will fly the 777s on ? My guess would be JFK and ORD but I'm not too familiar with their network.

The777Man

Any idea when they plan to restart services to Malaysia? I gather loads on the KHI/LHE/ISB-KUL routes were doing very well until they were suspended due to the dispute over flying over Indian airspace.

Whose A310s are these? SQ has a couple still lying around at Changi.

While KHI-BOM could see a 310, i doubt if LHE-DEL could support anything other thatn a 737-300. Now with the bus services and Sanjhauta Express available, a lot of people on this short flight would take that option.

-Roy

I think they will take ex-Khalifa A310s.

The777Man

The mentioned aircraft are 1993 built and with PW engines...from Airbus Asset Management....not sure who are operating these at the moment.....anyone know....?

"The777Man"
I believe PIA will operate B-777s to American continent ORD-JFK-LAX-Huston (will start soon)-Toronto.

As quoted in the latest justplanes.com website.

"Pakistan International recently signed an agreement with Airbus to lease 6 Airbus A310s for 10 years. Airbus will deliver 2 aircraft in Nov03, 2 in Dec03 and 2 in Jun04. PIA has an option to purchase the aircraft when the lease expires".

Regards,
Gf-A330

http://www.geocities.com/fly_pia/

The 777 will operate the 747 Combi routes....i.e. MAN, JFK, LHR, JED

The 777 is not a replacement for the B747 Combi's, but will definately cause the permanent grounding of AP-BCL. The Combi's will only be replaced once the A310 freighters are in service. The 777 and 747s will fly similar routes depending on seasonal traffic.

OK, I am confused.......PIA747, are you suggesting that the six A310s that PIA will acquire will be freighters (to replace the 747 Combis)?

Well ofcorse all 6 are not going to be freighters. The 1st few A310s are being acquired to replace the A300B4's. PIA presently does not have a freighter aircaft and therefore has been heavily relying on the two B747 combis. Recently the Cargo division is being brought back to life and a decision was taken to acquire A310 freighters.

Thanks for the info ! Looking forward to flying a PIA 777 JFK-MAN next year sometime! Nothing yet in the schedules and look forward to when they appear there.

It's getting confusing with the A310s; the ex-Khalifa would have gone back to Airbus and could certainly be going to PIA. But the ex-Khalifa aircraft were not bulit in 1993. SQ has four 313s (9V-STA-D) with PW engines, built in 1993. Perhaps SQ has traded in some 313s to pay for the 345s ?

The777Man

PIA is getting 6 Airbus 310-300
Only 2 freighters

Whats happened to Airmale? He usually has something to say about this?

What happened to the rumor that PIA was leasing 4 Airbus A 300-600Rs from someone + 2 A 310-300 frieghters.

The AB6 rumor was very very strong and is a perfect replacement for their AB4s...size and range wise.

Maybe they thought that its better to stick with one aircraft type for medium demand flights plus A 313s are flexbile too as they can be used for nonstop PAK-EUROPE flights which the AB6 cannot be used for!

I dont think so an AB6 can fly LHE-BHX or ISB-BHX or ISB-CDG nonstop...can it with a full pax-cargo load?

No an A300B4 cannot fly ISB-CDG direct. Before A310's were inducted in the PIA fleet in early 90, AB4 used to be the work horse of PIA. AB4 used to fly to Paris, Rome and Copenhagen via Athens.

The one thing PIA will miss about A300B4 is its large Belly Cargo hold. It is ideal for the Gulf which is a large market for Perishable goods from Pakistan.

Oh you meant AB6, an AB6 is actually an AB4 with the Range and Flight deck of an A310. Therefore this would prove to be an ideal choice for a freighter.