Pak airline officials to appear in UK, Malaysia courts for failure to pay lease of seized aircraft
Jan 17, 2021
Rawalpindi [Pakistan], January 17 : Pakistan's Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said that the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) officials will appear before a court in the United Kingdom on January 22 and a Malaysian court on January 24 after failing to pay the lease of an aircraft on time due to Covid-19 pandemic.
During a media briefing in Rawalpindi on Saturday, the minister claimed that the Malaysian court had issued an order without listening to any arguments by the national carrier, and blamed the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government for acquiring two aircraft on an expensive lease, reported Geo News.
A PIA aircraft was held back by a local court in Malaysia on Friday due to a legal dispute between the airline and another party.
On Twitter, Pakistan's national carrier said: "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."
Geo News mentioned that the PIA plane was taken on lease from a Vietnamese company in 2015.
A PIA spokesperson has said that the airline's counsel is already presented in Kuala Lampur and has been provided all relevant documents.
The passengers of the seized aircraft will arrive in Pakistan via Dubai today.
