Eight out of 12 Boeing 777 operational: PIA

KARACHI: The national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson said Thursday that eight out of 12 Boeing 777 were operational and maintenance of two aircraft was underway, ARY News reported.

The PIA spokesperson responded to the statement of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla regarding the national flag carrier. He said that the statement of Saleem Mandviwalla regarding the PIA was not factually correct.

The spokesperson added that the national-level leaders should have deliver statements after scrutinising the facts. He said that eight out of 12 Boeing 777 aircraft of the PIA were operational and maintenance of two planes.

The statement added that funds have been disbursed and the remaining planes will be made operational by the end of August.

READ: PIA TO INDUCT FOUR NEW AIRCRAFT INTO ITS FLEET BY FEBRUARY

Earlier in the month, PIA had been stopped from using a recently acquired new plane for flight operation due to a tax dispute with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

A dispute emerged between PIA and FBR over the payment of duty on recently acquired new planes. The tax dispute has been causing a massive financial loss worth millions of dollars to the national airline.

PIA had acquired four Airbus A-320 aircraft through tenders and the first plane landed in Islamabad on April 29.

READ: PIA INDUCTS AIRBUS 320 IN ITS FLEET: SAAD RAFIQUE

The revenue institution had imposed a sales tax worth Rs410 million on the national airline for acquiring the plane on lease.

The PIA management is facing difficulties with a lump-sum payment of the massive tax to the FBR as the airline is already paying $0.5 million in lease money for each aircraft.

The airline will be granted permission for using the recently acquired aircraft for the flight operation after the sales tax payment.