PIA leases two Boeing 787 Dreamliners for UK flights from November

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has signed a lease agreement with Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways for two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, which are expected to join its fleet in November and fly long-haul routes between Pakistan and the United Kingdom.

The deal is an ACMI lease, covering the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance. The planes will be the first Dreamliners to enter the Pakistani aviation market, Dawn and Geo News reported.

More UK capacity

PIA Chief Executive Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat said the UK was an important market for the airline and that the agreement would add much-needed capacity and give passengers more choice.

“We are pleased to partner with Norse Atlantic as we continue to strengthen our international network and respond to strong demand for direct travel between the two countries,” he said at the signing ceremony. He said he hoped the aircraft would offer the premium service passengers expect from PIA.

A PIA spokesman said the arrival of the Dreamliners marked the start of the airline’s expansion, aimed at meeting rising demand with direct flights and wider global connectivity. The aircraft will serve different points in the UK. According to Dawn, the acquisition reflects the new PIA administration’s commitment to providing modern facilities for passengers, while letting Norse quickly redeploy aircraft returning to its fleet.

What Norse gains

For Norse, the deal keeps a key ACMI business going after India’s largest airline, IndiGo, said in July it would end its own wet-lease arrangement with the Norwegian group, according to Geo News. Facing soaring jet fuel costs, Norse has been cutting back on low-cost transatlantic services and focusing on leasing its aircraft and crews to other airlines.

Norse Chief Executive Eivind Roald said the company had been working to redeploy capacity into new leasing opportunities “and we are now executing that strategy”. He said the deal would improve connectivity between the UK and Pakistan by giving the large Pakistani community in Britain more travel options, and could mark the start of a strategic partnership between the two airlines.

Fleet plans

Key points of PIA’s fleet plans:

• Aircraft: two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, due in November
• Routes: direct long-haul flights between Pakistan and the UK
• Model: aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance supplied by Norse under the lease
• Further talks: the government is also considering aircraft leasing and fleet modernisation deals with Airbus and Rolls-Royce

The Airbus and Rolls-Royce proposals were discussed days ago at a meeting between Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad, The News reported, citing the commerce ministry. The talks covered leasing options to meet PIA’s immediate needs and longer-term plans to modernise its fleet with Airbus aircraft and Rolls-Royce engines.

Why it matters

The UK is one of PIA’s most important markets because of the large Pakistani community there. Adding wide-body capacity on the route is the first visible step in the airline’s expansion under its new management.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn and Geo News.