KUALA LUMPUR – A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane has been impounded in Malaysia over a British court case concerning a US$14 million (RM56.5 million) aircraft lease dispute.
According to Al Jazeera, alternative arrangements are being made for travellers to leave Kuala Lumpur for Pakistan.
It reported PIA as saying the airline will pursue the matter via diplomatic channels, and has sought the Pakistani government’s assistance.
“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,” said airline spokesman Abdullah H. Khan in a statement.
“We were told that the plane has been impounded on a court order,” he said in a separate 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.”
Orders passed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday and sighted by Reuters showed the plaintiff in the case, relating to two aircraft leased to PIA by the Dublin-based AerCap in 2015, is Peregrine Aviation Charlie Ltd.
The jets are part of the portfolio sold by AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd, an investment unit of NCB Capital, which is the brokerage arm of National Commercial Bank SJSC, in 2018.
The interim injunction states that PIA is barred from moving two aircraft in its fleet – a Boeing 777-200ER with the serial number 32716 and a Boeing 777-200ER with the serial number 32717 – once they have landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport until a further hearing later this month.
The Flightradar24 website showed that the other jet was last recorded in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi last month.
In a statement yesterday, the Malaysian Transport Ministry said the jet here is being held pending legal proceedings scheduled for January 24.
The situation has been described by PIA as “unacceptable”.
The airline was already struggling financially before flights worldwide were grounded last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, having accumulated more than US$4 billion in losses.
PIA was also hit with a controversy concerning the validity of its pilots’ licences, leading to a mass suspension, and its safety track record has been called into question. – The Vibes, January 16, 2021
