Delays in routine aircraft maintenance cost 38 billion
rupees to PIA
A recent report from the Auditor General of Pakistan has
raised concerns about the maintenance costs incurred by Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) in 2021. The report reveals that delays in routine aircraft
maintenance resulted in a staggering cost of more than PKR 38 billion (USD 134
million) for the airline.
According to The Express Tribune newspaper, the report,
submitted to Pakistan's parliament, outlines significant challenges within
PIA's engineering and maintenance units. It highlights specific instances where
maintenance, repairs, and inspections took considerably longer than expected,
including:
PIA’s
loss for the year increases to Rs67bn
Maintenance of a B777-300ER (registered as AP-BID) taking
520 days.
Maintenance of a B777-200ER (registered as AP-BMG) taking
250 days.
Maintenance of an unidentified ATR aircraft taking 905 days
(PIA had both ATR72-500s and ATR42-500s in its fleet at the time).
Maintenance of an unidentified A320-200 taking 905 days.
Maintenance of a second unidentified A320-200 taking 540
days.
These delays significantly exceeded PIA's maintenance plan,
which had allocated between 19 and 28 days for each aircraft's necessary
maintenance. Consequently, these five aircraft were out of service for a total
of 2,991 days in 2021, costing the airline approximately PKR 12.8 million (USD
45,400) per day.
PIA
administration blamed for two ATR accidents
Upon raising this issue with PIA's management in late 2022,
the auditor's office was informed that "increased cannibalization from
aircraft under heavy maintenance caused the delay in aircraft rollout."
In a separate development, the Pakistani government
continues its efforts to partially privatize the financially struggling flag
carrier, PIA. The government aims to complete this partial privatization by
February 2024, involving the sale of a 40% stake and management rights to a
foreign entity in exchange for fresh funding. As a result, PIA is now
restricted from entering into long-term contracts, including aircraft leasing,
until the partial privatization is finalized.
Source: https://www.ch-aviation.com/