PIA: Pakistan national carrier plane ‘impounded’ in Malaysia | Aviation News

Boeing 777 aircraft was held back in Kuala Lumpur after a British court order involving a $14m lease dispute.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane has been held back by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the jet’s lease.

PIA announced the news on Twitter on Friday, adding it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels.

The Boeing 777 aircraft was seized after a court order and alternative arrangements were being made for passengers due to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Pakistan.

The case involved a $14m lease dispute, a PIA official said.

“A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking a one-sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court,” a PIA spokesman Abdullah H Khan said in a statement.

“We were told that the plane has been impounded on a court order,” Khan said later in a video statement. “PIA’s legal team will pursue it in the Malaysian court, and we hope that we will resolve this issue as soon as possible.”

A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking one sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court.

The passengers are being looked after and alternate arrangements for their travel have been finalized.

— PIA (@Official_PIA) January 15, 2021

According to orders passed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday and seen by the Reuters news agency, the plaintiff of the case is Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited and the matter pertains to two jets leased to PIA by Dublin-based AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, in 2015.

They are part of a portfolio that AerCap sold to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd, an investment unit of NCB Capital, the brokerage arm of National Commercial Bank SJSC, in 2018.

According to the interim injunction, PIA is restrained from moving two aircraft in its fleet – a Boeing 777-200ER with serial number 32716 and a Boeing 777-200ER with serial number 32717 – once they have landed or parked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport until a further hearing on the matter later this month.

Tracking data from Flightradar24 showed only one of the two Boeing 777s covered by the court order is currently in Kuala Lumpur.

The other was last recorded in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi last month.

AerCap, which continued as part of the agreement to provide lease management services to Peregrine, declined to comment.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement on Friday the aircraft was being held pending legal proceedings set for January 24.

PIA in a statement described the situation as “unacceptable” adding it had asked for support from Pakistan’s government to raise the matter diplomatically.

Struggling airline

With more than $4bn in accumulated losses, PIA was already struggling financially when flights were grounded last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After it resumed operations in May, a domestic PIA plane crash in Karachi killed 97 out of 99 people on board.

Later, PIA suspended 150 pilots after questions over the authenticity of their licences emerged.

In June, the airline was banned from flying to the EU for six months over safety compliance concerns under a ban still in place.

In the same month, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) grounded all Pakistani pilots flying for domestic airlines in that country over concerns regarding their credentials.

Al Jazeera reported in July claims by Pakistani pilots that fraud and improper flight certification practices at the country’s civil aviation regulator were rampant, and that air safety has routinely been compromised by airlines through faulty safety management systems, incomplete reporting and the use of regulatory waivers.

In September, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) advised Pakistan to undertake “immediate corrective actions” and suspend the issuance of any new pilot licenses in the wake of a scandal over falsified licenses.