Pakistan national carrier pays $7 million to jet company after plane seized in Malaysia
Jan 22, 2021
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 23 : The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Friday informed the London High Court that it has paid around USD 7 million to Peregrine Aviation Charlie Ltd in the case related to two jets leased to it by the Dublin-based AerCap.
This comes a week after the Malaysian authorities seized a PIA Boeing-777 at the Kuala Lumpur airport on the orders of a local Malaysian court, over the non-payment of aircraft lease dues owed to the Dublin-based AerCap.
Lawyers for both the PIA and the airliner sought an adjournment as they hoped that the full amount would be paid through an agreement without the court issuing an order against PIA, reported Geo News.
The Dublin-based AerCap's lawyer told the court: "The claimant's position is that the sums were paid today by the defendant (PIA)."
The court was informed that the PIA didn't make payments since it asked for the amendment of its claim in July and that it owed USD 580,000 per month to the airliner, but it didn't pay and litigation was initiated.
The leasing company had filed a case against the PIA in London High Court in October 2020 over its failure to pay the leasing fee worth about $14 million which had been pending for six months.
In response, Pakistan national carrier had maintained that since the COVID-19 pandemic had seriously affected the aviation industry, there should be a reduction in the overhead charges.
Meanwhile, the leasing company kept an eye on the activities of PIA, and as soon as it received the information of flight 895's scheduled landing in Malaysia, it appealed to a local court to seize the aircraft as per the international civil aviation leasing laws, sources added.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was seized after London High Court issued the order, an airline spokesman had 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 at the time but today the flag carrier's lawyers raised no objections about the seizure of its plane in Malaysia.
