ISLAMABAD – The national carrier of Pakistan has grounded 11 aircraft in fresh vindication of a lack of financial resources, reducing the fleet of the carrier.
The grounded aircraft include three Boeing 777s, as Pakistan International Airlines faces a serious financial crisis due to the depreciation of Pakistani currency and an increase in prices of petroleum products.
The reason for grounding aircraft is the fact that the state-owned entity is unable to buy spare parts due to a shortage of resources for a long period of time.
The national carrier grounded two of the three wide-body Boeing 777 aircraft in 2020 and one in 2021. Five A320 aircraft have also been grounded. Moreover, the carrier also grounded three ATR aircraft — one each in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
A spokesperson for PIA confirmed that 11 aircraft have been grounded due to a lack of funds to buy spare parts as the national flag carrier is facing a serious financial crisis, including reliance on foreign currency which has appreciated in recent months.
A senior official of the airline said the airline is currently operating with the remaining 20 aircraft and the flight operations are being carried out according to the available aircraft. The official said if flights are increased, the airline will be facing a shortage of aircraft, Dawn News reported.
What exacerbates the situation is the fact that three of the 11 grounded planes — Boeing 777, Airbus and ATR — are beyond repair for want of engines and other parts.
The grounding of planes comes months before the carrier is set to resume flights to the United Kingdom (UK) and other European destinations.
Former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had said that as per the understanding with international authorities, the final inspection would be completed in August and by October, the flights to the United Kingdom would be resumed -provided Pakistan promulgates its amended law.
The flight operations of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to the United Kingdom and other European destinations were halted due to multiple issues including a statement by former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar in which he had claimed that the licenses of most of the pilots of the national flag carrier were fake.
Direct flights between UK and Pakistan through Pakistan International Airlines are at a halt since July 2020. Not only that, direct flights through other carriers have also been affected.
In 2020, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight operations for Europe over safety concerns.
EASA said that they had suspended the Third Country Operator (TCO) Authorisation to PIA after it failed to comply with the proposed corrective action plans (CAPs).
