PIA signs contract with SriLankan for lease of three A-330s

PIA-Premier-cabin-crew-uniform-unveiled-1Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has formalised the wet leasing of three A-330 aircraft from Srilankan Airlines.

PIA CEO Bernd Hildebrand signed the contract with the Chairman of Sri Lankan Airlines, Ajith Dias and CEO Capt. Suren Ratwatte.

The contract has materialised after a series of negotiations between the two sides. First of these aircraft would he delivered during the next week, while the rest in the following months.

These aircraft are in brand new condition and would be used for PIA Premier Service giving passengers a better experience, allowing PIA to start regaining its market share.

PIA Premier is scheduled to be launched on August 14, initially only to London.

There would be six weekly Premier Service flights to London, including three from Islamabad and three from Lahore. Later, with the addition of more aircraft, the service would be expanded to other destinations.

Chairman, Azam Saigol appreciated the efforts of the PIA team led by Hildebrand in finalising this contract.

SriLankan to lease 3 A350s to Bulgaria Air

SriLankan Airlines (UL, Colombo Int'l) has renew negotiations to lease three unwanted Airbus A350-900s to Bulgaria Air (FB, Sofia), officials at the national carrier said.

The renewal program is part of the restructuring of the debt-ridden airline by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Public Enterprise and Development. The A350-900s has been grounded by SriLankan, according to Sri Lanka's Business Times reported. This week the Ministry through media advertisements called for Request for Proposal (RFP)’s to select a financial advisor to restructure the national carrier. Now, SriLankan has four A350-900s on order.

Bulgaria Air has announce to long haul proposal contract for four A330-200s and three A350-900s, paving the way for next long haul flights to Asia and even the US. The A350-900s would be delivered to the Bulgarian carrier by 2017. CEO Hristo Todorov will reveale to sets open up flights to the US.

Three A350 airframes - cn 52, 55, and 60 - that SriLankan was scheduled to have leased from AerCap have already been completed and are currently awaiting fitment of their Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-84 powerplants and interiors. As such, SriLankan was to have taken delivery of cn 52 with cn 55 and 60 to have followed during the last quarter of the year. Images of cn 52 seen for SriLankan's logo has now been removed from its fuselage.

SriLankan management says the aircraft no longer fit their business model which has shifted focus from longhaul to regional operations.

Source : Group Defense & Transportation Spotters