Confirmed: PIA to Get Eight New Boeing 787 Dreamliners

[Spy Master]

Pakistan International Airline has confirmed to induct eight new fuel efficient 787 Dreamliners to its fleet with deliveries starting as early as mid next year.

This started when President and CEO of Boeing wrote a letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan earlier in August and offered the lease of multiple 787 Dreamliners.

Boeing had then invited Pakistani government to get its latest flagship 787 Dreamliner jets. The airliner maker had also extended all sorts of support for a smooth transition and adoption of new jets.

Now we are getting reports that PIA is determined to get eight 787 dreamliners as a BBC journalist confirmed the news on his twitter.

Boeing 787 Dreamliners are billed as most fuel efficient jets and are used for both long and mid-range routes.

It maybe recalled that PIA just retired its five A310s with an aim to replace them with better airliners.

PIA has been making efforts lately to revive its glory by targeting both economy and premium customers.

PIA’s Premier Service, with all modern in-flight facilities, is particularly an effort to bring back premium flyers.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is a long-range, mid-size widebody plane that comes with up to 335 passenger capacity in various configurations.

PIA will use these new aircraft for its long-haul routes to Europe, US and East Asia.

It won’t be out of mention that Boeing has struggled selling its 787 Dreamliners due to a battery fiasco that it claims to have fixed now.

 

[kamrananvaar]

Boeing and Pakistan International Airlines reportedly have a deal for eight 787 Dreamliners
Boeing is close to selling eight Dreamliner 787s to Pakistan International Airways (PIA) after a high-level lobbying and sales campaign by Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) could begin delivering the wide-body jets in mid-2017, according to media and social media reports in Pakistan.


Azam Sehgal, the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines, let word of the deal slip during an interview with Tahir Imran, an Urdu-language aviation journalist in Islamabad who contributes to the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Urdu-language news service.

In a recent tweet, Imran said: "Breaking: PIA to get 8 @boeing 787 Dreamliners with deliveries due from mid next year. The chairman just told me exclusively."

Worth at least $1.8 billion at list prices, the new aircraft order would help the airline double its fleet and launch direct service to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Imran later reported

Marc Birtel, an international spokesman for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle, declined to confirm or deny the Pakistan reports.

"Boeing does not comment publicly on customer discussions," Birtel said.

PIA also asked Boeing if the Dreamliner could fly the distance between Lahore/Karachi and Toronto, Canada's largest city and home to a large and affluent Pakistani community. Boeing confirmed the Dreamliner's fuel-efficient features could make that direct flight possible, the Pakistani media reports said.

News of a Boeing Dreamliner purchase by PIA comes after the airline recently announced plans to retire five older Airbus A310 aircraft following this year's Haaj pilgrimage to Mecca season.

Also in mid-August, PIA launched a new specially branded premium flying service between Lahore, Pakistan, and London. Business class travelers get limousine service in London for destinations within 25 miles from the airport as part of that service.

The Pakistan International Airlines deal comes two months after Conner privately wrote to Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif offering to exchange PIA's 2012 order for five 777-300ER jets for Dreamliners in a deal that "could help Pakistan's national airline 'restore' its brand and 'improve its attractiveness for privatization.'"

Conner's letter was leaked on a social media site in Pakistan and a copy was published by The Puget Sound Business Journal.

"Over the past three months, we have worked extensively with PIA to document the business case for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and we are convinced that the 787 can dramatically transform PIA's operations and help it restore profitability," Conner wrote to the Pakistani politician.

"Moreover, this solution also satisfies the interests of strategic investors, who will want to see a realistic, executable turnaround plan," Conner added in is letter to Sharif.

 

[elitepilot09]

Useless. The latest 777 that was initially offered is a much more suitable aircraft for PIA.

Of course the government will adhere to whatever the American contractors wish.

 

[kamrananvaar]

Useless. The latest 777 that was initially offered is a much more suitable aircraft for PIA.

Of course the government will adhere to whatever the American contractors wish.

totally agree with u , 787 is a disaster with exploding battteries and what not , let the manufacturer iron out the kinks in it
on another note in the very near future sanctions on pakistan, and its not a question of if but when? what will pakistan do then

 

[razgriz19]

Useless. The latest 777 that was initially offered is a much more suitable aircraft for PIA.

Of course the government will adhere to whatever the American contractors wish.

It wasn't the latest 777. It was 300ER. There is a huge line up for the latest 777. And 787 is more suitable for PIA than 777 on ultra long haul. Off season time, Karachi to Toronto only fills up half the aircraft. 787 would be more profitable there

 

[VCheng]

Pakistan should consider Airbus, Ilyushin, and the new planes by CAC before Boeing.

 

[wiseone2]

Useless. The latest 777 that was initially offered is a much more suitable aircraft for PIA.

Of course the government will adhere to whatever the American contractors wish.

777 is a great jetliner for PIA

 

[VCheng]

777 is a great jetliner for PIA

But why is it that every time there is a chance, Pakistan does not make decisions to drive home its deep-seated displeasure at USA by not ordering US products?

 

[maximuswarrior]

PIA should definitely consider Airbus alternative. It is truly better in almost every comparison to Boeing planes.

777 is a great jetliner for PIA

What would you know is better for PIA?