A spokesman for the ailing national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Thursday stated that the company’s Board of Directors (BOD’s) had never given the go-ahead for the sale of A-310 aircraft and in fact ordered an enquiry into the sale of A-310 aircraft to Germany.
He mentioned that the A-310 aircraft had been grounded before the end of 2016 as per the Aviation Policy 2015 requiring an aircraft more than 20 years old to be not permitted for operation. With regards to the drafting of the grounded two A-310 aircrafts into the current fleet, the spokesman said that various options are currently under exploration to meet the increased demand during Hajj 2017 season, including the re-activation of the A-310 aircraft. He highlighted that no decision in this regard has been taken till now. PIA will also be consulting Airbus, the manufacturer of these aircraft, before taking any decision, he added. He stressed that passenger safety was always their first priority and no decision would be taken that would put them in any danger whatsoever.
He also mentioned that there was absolutely no link between the grounding of A-310s which were more than 20-years-old and the leasing of far newer aircraft in 2016 when an effort was made to improve airline’s overall product.
