Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) signed a wet-lease agreement with SriLankan Airlines for three A330s, PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand confirmed to ATW.
“The first aircraft will be delivered [from Aug. 1], while the rest [will come] in the following months,” PIA said July 29.
According to the Pakistan flag carrier, the A330s will be used primarily for a 6X-weekly premier service to London Heathrow, which is being launched Aug. 14. Three weekly flights will be operated from Islamabad and three from Lahore.
“Our main airport is Karachi, but the metropolis is no longer the center it once was. The best business for PIA will be generated from Islamabad and Lahore,” PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand told ATWrecently.
With the A330s, more professional crew and improved service standards, PIA wants to deliver a more positive experience to passengers, to regain its market share, according to the statement.
“The carrier has become rather old-fashioned over the years. We want to change this, improve the product, and bring PIA to a standard similar to that of other world carriers,” Hildenbrand said, adding the carrier is on a fundamental path of change, encouraged by the government, to move into a new era.
PIA’s premier service should be expanded to other destinations as more aircraft arrive.
In addition to the three wet-leased A330s, up to five of the airline’s 11 Boeing 777s will be reconfigured with new business- and economy-class cabins, new inflight entertainment systems and services. The first reconfigured aircraft should be available from February 2017.
SriLankan has been facing increased competition, especially from Gulf carriers, and this fall will close two out of three European services—Frankfurt and Paris.
ATWOnline
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