PIA finds no serious bidder for obtaining aircraft on dry lease

KARACHI: Bidders showed little interest in tenders floated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to obtain aircraft on dry lease as none of the five could meet the conditions prescribed by the national flag carrier when bids were opened on Friday. The bids were opened in the presence of media personnel and PIA Chairman Mohammad Ali Gardezi and Managing Director Junaid Yunus at the PIA head office. PIA had floated the tenders for obtaining eight aircraft — four wide-bodied with 390-plus seating capacity and four smaller ones having 50-plus seating capacity — on a six-year dry lease. The delivery of the aircraft had to start from July, 2014. Five companies — Dubai Aerospace, Standard Chartered Bank, Bank of China, Aircraft Leasing Corporation and D.V. Bank — had submitted the bids. Some companies offered Boeing 777s while others ATRs. None of the bidders met the conditions as some were offering old aircraft — as old models as 1999 — while others were not able to deliver the aircraft within the prescribed time and offering to make the delivery in 2015 and 2016 or even later. Responding to media queries about PIA finances, Mr Gardezi said that monthly expenditure of the airline was around Rs13 billion while it was earning between Rs9bn and Rs9.5bn a month. To a question, Mr Yunus said PIA was making efforts to upgrade its engineering facilities so that not only it could maintain its aircraft but could also offer its services to other airlines and earn revenue.