Recently, news regarding an airworthy Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) aircraft being sold for a meager € 47,500 to a German airline had put the PIA CEO, Bernd Hildenbrand, in the limelight who was being claimed to be the person giving a go ahead to the deal.
The deal involved the sale of Airbus A310, along with six engines and four auxiliary power units, worth millions according to Saleem Mandviwalla, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Finance. It had been reported that the plane alone was worth $3.51m.
The plane’s tender was supposed to open up on 12th December 2016, however, the pilots were asked to fly the aircraft to Malta and later divert it to Germany without specified reasons.
This paved way for FIA’s investigation regarding the sale of the A-310 in addition to the costly lease of A-320 and A-330 planes which had been wet leased at amounts much higher than the going market rates. PIA directors and CEO had been summoned to present an explanation regarding the matter several times. Hildenbrand had been put on the Exit Control List (ECL) and he was later sent on a leave while investigations were underway. It is pertinent to mention that the national carrier has had a major reshuffle in its management hierarchy recently.
Sources have been reported to have said that the ongoing investigations have revealed that PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand, Technical Consultant Bachhofner, Director Corporate Planning Amir, Director Procurement Air Commodore Imran Akhtar and former Director Flight Operations (DFO) Q Baloch were all knowledgeable about the dubious sale of the A310 plane. The German technical consultant, Bachhofner, has been dismissed and allowed to depart, the director procurement has been sent back to his parent company and the corporate planning director has been transferred as head of PIA engineering while DFO has retired and will soon be joining his family based in New York.
However, there has been no official disclosure of the outcome of the investigation and a statement may be expected to be released soon.
