PIA plane to pay its outstanding lease amount
Lahore, 24th January: Pakistan International Airline (PIA) will have to pay $ 2m for the lease of its plane that was seized in Malaysia last week.
According to reports, PIA is in talks with Irish aircraft broker Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited to pay about $2 million as due payment for an aircraft lease agreement by the Dublin-based company AerCap.
Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited in London put forth a case against PIA to pay dues amounting to $9m.
As per reports from Dawn News, during a hearing at the High Court on Friday, a lawyer representing PIA informed the judge that the national flag carrier had paid $7m to Peregrine as part of its lease agreement, but for the remainder of $2m, there is still a dispute going on.
The two parties agreed to settle the issue outside the court, so the hearing was adjourned.
This was the impediment after which the PIA plane was seized in Malaysia last week.
At the hearing in London, PIA’s lawyers objected to the capture of its aircraft in Malaysia, however, the court did not hear to the development as it was the result of a court order in another jurisdiction.
Reports from Dawn News say that the lease company with which PIA had entered the agreement, covered payments for lease rental, maintenance reserves and insurance of two aircraft, a Boeing 777 with serial number 32,716 and a Boeing 777-200ER with serial number 32,717.
According to the agreement, the lease rental charges were set at $580,000 per month and the maintenance reserves at $315,000 per month.
PIA authorities have reported that maintenance reserves are calculated according to the flying cycle which is recorded each time the engine is started and switched off.
As per reports, the particular PIA aircraft was grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic for six months between April and September last year, PIA contented that the maintenance cost should not be charged.
However, the aviation company is of the view that the agreement does not cover COVID-19 as a crisis limiting the liability, and that PIA should pay its due amount regardless of how much the plane is flown.
As per the agreement, PIA will have to pay $2m in maintenance reserve costs despite not having flown the plane.
Reports also tell that currently, PIA has about 18 aircraft on lease, and for the majority of the contracts, maintenance reserve is charged based on the usage.
According to reports by Reuters who have seen the orders by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday, the plaintiff of the case is Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited and the matter concerns two jets leased to PIA by Dublin-based AerCap which is the world’s largest aircraft grantor, in 2015.
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV to read all the latest updates!
