A Pakistan International Airlines plane has been held back by Malaysian authorities over a British court case, the airline said on Friday, adding that it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels.
The Boeing 777 aircraft was seized after a court order, an airline spokesman said, and alternative arrangements were being made for passengers due to fly back to Pakistan.
“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 said in a statement.
The national carrier in a statement described the situation as “unacceptable” and said it had asked for support from Pakistan’s government to raise the matter diplomatically.
The company did not say where the plane was being held. The spokesman told Reuters that the matter related to an arbitration case over payments being heard in a UK court. Further details of the case were not immediately available.
Malaysian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
With more than $4 billion in accumulated losses, PIA was already struggling financially when flights were grounded last year due to the pandemic.
As it resumed operations in May, a domestic PIA flight crash in Karachi killed 97 of 99 people on board.
Pakistan’s aviation industry was then hit by a scandal in which pilots were found to hold “dubious” licences – prompting a number of countries to ban PIA from operating flights in their jurisdictions.
The airline was banned from flying to the European Union for six months over safety compliance concerns under a ban still in place.
A Pakistan International Airlines plane has been held back by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the jet's lease, the airline said on Friday, adding it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels.
www.reuters.com
Commenting on the legal dispute, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Dawn.com that it was a "payment dispute between us and the party Perigreen" that had been filed in the UK courts about six months ago.
The spokesperson refused to give further details on the dispute, adding that the Malaysian court took an "ex-parte decision causing inconvenience to the passengers who had already boarded the plane".
In response to a question about the issue, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said the Pakistani high commission in Malaysia was in close contact with the relevant Malaysian authorities and PIA "to address the issue at the earliest".
"Meanwhile, the passengers are being properly looked after and alternate arrangements for their travel to Pakistan have also been finalised," he said, adding that they will be departing Kuala Lumpur by Emirates flight EK-343 later tonight.
Spokesperson says the plane has been stopped as part of a "payment dispute" between PIA and another party filed in a UK court.
www.dawn.com
If incompetency had a face it would be Imran Khan. He and his team has ruined everything.
There is sequel of failures. Journey started from selection of goons in KP and now incompetancy is prevalent in the Federal Govt. Team of Imran will not stop here. The next episode of lame excuse is 'main kahan say farashtay laoon'
propakistani.pk
