- PIA signs lease agreement with Norwegian airline.
- Agreement helps Norse Atlantic retain key ACMI.
- PIA says deal to offer passengers more travel options.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has signed a lease agreement with Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways for two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners aircraft as the airline works to expand its expansion.
The agreement helps Norse retain a key ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) contract after India’s largest airline IndiGo in July said it would end its wet-lease arrangement with the Norwegian group.
Norse, faced with soaring jet fuel costs, has been reducing its exposure to low-cost transatlantic services and increasing its focus on ACMI, under which it leases aircraft and crews to other airlines for a fee.
The aircraft are expected to join PIA in November and operate long-haul flights between Pakistan and the United Kingdom, increasing capacity on the routes, according to The News.
The partnership is intended to support PIA’s route expansion while enabling Norse to redeploy aircraft returning to its fleet.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, PIA Chief Executive Officer Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat said the UK was an important market for the airline and the agreement would increase capacity and offer passengers more travel options.
“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.
Hayat added that the aircraft will be the first Dreamliners introduced to the Pakistani market, expressing hope that they would provide passengers with the premium services they expected from PIA.
Norse Chief Executive Officer Eivind Roald said the airline has been working to redeploy capacity through new ACMI opportunities and is now implementing that strategy.
He said that the agreement will support PIA’s long-haul expansion and improve connectivity between the UK and Pakistan by offering the large Pakistani community in the UK more travel options.
Roald added that the agreement can mark the beginning of a strategic partnership between the two airlines.
The development comes days after the commerce ministry said that the government was considering potential aircraft leasing and fleet modernisation deals with Airbus and Rolls-Royce.
The proposals were discussed during a meeting between Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan and British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad, The News reported, citing the commerce ministry.
The two sides discussed possible arrangements involving Airbus aircraft and Rolls-Royce engines, including leasing options to meet PIA’s immediate requirements and longer-term plans to modernise its fleet, the ministry had said.
