Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is evaluating an order for wide-body Airbus and Boeing jets as it looks to upgrade its ageing fleet, an executive for the state-owned airline said on Tuesday.
“Boeing 777X would be a good option,” the airline’s executive director of human resources and works, Raheel Ahmed, said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Dubai.
The airline is also looking at the Airbus A330 and A350 models, he added.
PIA would consider purchasing the aircraft directly from the manufacturer and financing the order through a sale and leaseback arrangement. It would also consider a direct leasing agreement, known as a dry lease.
A sale and leaseback is when the airline sells the jet to a lessor who then leases it back.
Ahmed did not say when PIA would make the order or how many jets it could buy.
PIA has a fleet of 38 narrow-body and wide-body Airbus and Boeing jets, Mr Ahmed said, with three A310s to be retired on December 31.
Mr Ahmed also said PIA would cut its 18,000 workforce by between 3,000 and 3,500 employees by the end of 2017 as the Pakistan government looks to turn around the loss-making airline and sell-off a 49 per cent stake.
As part of the turnaround, the airline will spin-off four “special business units” from January 2017, starting with its catering business and later its flight training, engineering and courier businesses.
The units are planned to operate independently of PIA with their own general managers and marketing teams, Mr Ahmed said, adding PIA would later look to sell a stake in the units if they are profitable.
* Reuters
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
