PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES CORPORATION (PIA): PIA Building, Quaide Azam International Airport, Karachi, 75200, Pakistan; Phone 92 (21) 457-2011; Fax 92 (21) 772-7727; Http://www. piac. com; Code PK; Year Founded 1951. PIA is established as a Ministry of Defence department on May 25, 1951 and orders are placed for three Lockheed L-1049Cs. The first tentative schedules are worked out for when it begins services at an unknown future date.
On October 1, 1953, privately owned and financially strapped Orient Airways, Ltd. is purchased by the government and merged with the paper PIA; Orient continues to operate under its own identity.
The three L-1049Cs are delivered in the spring of 1954, with the first aircraft registered on April 24. PIA, still operating under the Defence Ministry, launches nonstop Karachi to Dacca “inter-wing” service on June 7, replacing the Orient Airways, Ltd. Convair CV-240 operation. CV-240 flights from Karachi to Bombay begin on December 13.
Enplanements for the three Lockheeds for the half-year through December are 9,758.
Weekly L-1049C service from Karachi to Cairo and on to London opens on February 1, 1955. On March 11, PIA is formally established as a civilian airline by act of Parliament; shareholding is divided between the government (60%) and private interests (40%). Zafarul Ahsan is appointed managing director and the assets of the Ministry of Defence and Orient Airways, Ltd. are merged. The fleet includes the Super Constellations, 2 Convair CV-440s, and 11 Douglas DC-3s. In the merger process, the company also takes over the de Havilland DH 89A Dragon Rapides and other limited assets of Crescent Air Transport, Ltd., which had failed the previous December.
Orient Airways, Ltd.’s routes are now flown under PIA livery, as the independent ceases to exist. Nonstop Karachi to New Delhi CV-240 flights begin on March 15 with a newly delivered Convairliner. An agreement is now signed for technical assistance with Pan American World Airways (1), which agrees to train crews, etc., under a $3-million U. S. International Cooperation Administration contract similar to that which it holds with Ariana Afghan Airlines Company, Ltd.
The year’s bookings are up to 84,508.
During 1956, DC-3s/CV-240s consolidate domestic and regional services and open a route to Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar. A fourth Con-vairliner is acquired and orders are placed for three Vickers Viscount 815s.
A DC-3 freighter with three crew crashes into Lash Golath Mountain in Pakistan on February 25; there are no survivors.
In October, Karachi to Dacca frequencies are increased to daily, while the routes from Dacca to Lahore and from Karachi to Bombay become twice weekly.
During the year, an engineering base takes shape and the first Super Constellation engine is overhauled at PIA’s own shop. Extensive additional training programs are launched.
Enplanements are 133,071. It is reported that a small profit has been made; previously, the carrier has been running an annual loss in the area of Rs 10 million.
On July 1, 1957, a DC-3 with 4 crew and 20 passengers disappears on a Chittagong to Dacca flight; wreckage is found on Charlakhi Island in Bengal Bay on July 3 and two survivors are rescued.
Also during the month, two Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellations are ordered.
Customer bookings this year jump to 190,592.
The first L-1049H is placed in service on March 6, 1958 over the Karachi and Lahore to Dacca all-cargo and passenger route.
On May 15, in its initial climb away from Palam Airport at Delhi on a service to Karachi, Flight 205, a CV-240 with 6 crew and 32 passengers, unaccountably descends and strikes the ground; 21 aboard the aircraft are killed, as are 2 people on the ground.
Two additional V-815s are requested as bookings for the year swell to 206,918.
The Vickers Viscount 815 City of Karachi is placed in service on January 31, 1959 over the Karachi to New Delhi route. The same plane begins flying to Bombay on February 2 and to Lahore and Rawalpindi on February 6. Apolitical scapegoat to the whims of new Pakistani dictator Ayub Khan, Managing Director Ahsan is forced to resign in March and is replaced by Air Commodore M. Nur Khan. When the second Viscount 815, City of Dacca, is received, it begins operations to Peshawar on April 15.
A Vickers Viscount 815 is wrecked in a bad landing at Rawalpindi on May 18; there are no fatalities. While on a training flight over Karachi on August 14, a Vickers Viscount 815 with three crew crashes while attempting to execute a go-around maneuver (two dead).
On October 2, an order is placed for five Fokker F.27-100s, as the fleet is left with only three turboprops. Boardings drop to 200,000.
On February 9, 1960, an agreement is signed with Pan American World Airways (1) for the trial lease of a Boeing 707-121, making PIA the first jet operator in Asia. The aircraft, Clipper Viking, begins weekly proving flights in partial PIA colors—actually, just a tail fin sticker— from Karachi to London on March 7. The first all-Pakistani crew pilots the Boeing to London on June 20 and on October 4 the trial lease becomes a regular charter and the aircraft now appears in full PIA livery for the first time.
Meanwhile, on April 17, Karachi to Lahore Viscount 815 service starts, the same day twice-daily Rawalpindi to Lahore DC-3 flights begin. The last L-1049C London service is flown on October 1.
Enplanements accelerate to 259,621.
The fleet at the beginning of 1961 comprises not only the leased B-707-121, but 3 Viscount 815s, 3 L-1049Cs, 2 L-1049Hs, 9 DC-3s, 4 F.27-100s, and 1 F.27-400. The entry of the Fokker Friendships into service in January allows the DC-3s to be placed on special “bush” operations in northern Kashmir. A special low-fare, no-frills DC-3 East Pakistan “airbus” service begins on March 25.
On May 5, the London B-707-121 route is extended to New York and transatlantic boardings total 8,000 for the year. Meanwhile, direct New York to Karachi mail flights begin on July 30. The company’s first owned jetliner, a B-720-048B (B-720B), is delivered on December 29.
The B-707-121 lease is not renewed; rather, the fleet is upgraded in 1962 by the addition of three purchased Boeing jetliners and five DC-3s are retired. The new B-720-040B arrives at Karachi on January 2 after a record-breaking flight of 6 hr. 43 min. 51 sec. over 3,900 nm. from London. As the remaining units of the four-plane order are received, they join the first on flights from Karachi to London via Tehran, Geneva, and Frankfurt. Several also link east and west Pakistan.
A proving flight is made by a DC-3 from Rawalpindi to the far northwest mountain community of Chitral on February 18. Withdrawn from international schedules, the Super Constellations take over the country’s major domestic routes during the year. Clipper Viking is returned to Pan Am on December 12.
North Atlantic boardings rise by 2,000.
Due to a lack of traffic, the New York service ends in late March 1963. The company signs a reciprocal services pact with Aeroflot Soviet Airlines on October 7. PIA is the first foreign airline to receive landing rights in Moscow and permission to continue flights through the U. S.S. R. to other countries. Employing Sikorsky S-61Ns, a 10-point helicopter commuter network is inaugurated in East Pakistan on November 25.
Enplanements systemwide for the year total 572,086.
Early in 1964, Viscount 815 service is inaugurated from Peshawar over the Khyber Pass to Kabul, while F.27-100s start flying from Lahore to Delhi. The first route from the West into the closed People’s Republic of China is opened by PIA on April 29; a B720-040B service from Dacca to Shanghai via Canton is initiated. On May 10, the opening found to the Soviet Union the previous fall is consummated. PIA becomes the first foreign airline to operate to and beyond Moscow via a new B-720B route to London connecting through the Russian capital and Frankfurt.
The full 10-stop network of helicopter routes is finally opened in river-divided East Pakistan. A fourth B720-040B, two more F.27s, and three Hawker-Siddeley Tridents are ordered.
An F.27-200 with 4 crew and 22 passengers is destroyed as the result of a bad landing at Dacca on June 25; there are no fatalities.
The workforce is 8,524. Passenger boardings rise 25% to 762,782 and a 5 th consecutive profit is shown on revenues of $44.7 million.
The fleet in 1965 comprises 3 B720-040Bs, 3 DC-3s, five F.27s, 1 FH-227,4 L-1049Cs, 3 Viscount 815s, and 3 S-61Ns. Air Vice Marshall Nur Khan, PIA’s managing director, and Air Marshall Ashgar Khan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Air Force, swap positions on February 20. Nur Khan’s last act before shifting offices is to order Hawker Siddeley HS Trident 1Es, overruling his technical experts who favored Boeing 727s.
On a March 26domestic flight, a DC-3 with 4 crew and 22 passengers crashes near Lowari Pass (18 dead).
A large, modern, engine overhaul base is built at Karachi in the spring.
While on initial approach to Cairo from Dhahran on May 20, Flight 705, a B720-040B with 5 crew and 120 passengers crashes short of the runway (119 dead). This tragedy occurs just after the inauguration of service to Tehran, Cairo, and Dharain on the London route.
As the Indian and Pakistani military engage in armed conflict, the Indian government bars Pakistani flights over India and cancels PIA landing privileges on September 6. PIA halts services and sends its aircraft to temporary hubs at Tehran and Istanbul; the border struggle is brief and services from home soil are resumed before the end of December.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, an F.27-200 freighter with four crew crashes near Naran, Pakistan, on October 8; there are no survivors.
Airline employment is now 8,528, cargo traffic is up 28%, and a total of 728,757 passengers are flown.
With the fighting over, PIA overflights of India for the Dacca to Lahore service are allowed to resume on February 9, 1966, while the old circular route from Karachi to Dacca via Colombo is replaced by a direct service over southern India. The first of four Hawker Siddeley HS Trident 1Es to be received during the year is delivered on March 1, followed by the second 18 days later. These enter service on routes from Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi to Dacca, and later to Persian Gulf states, while two B-707-340Cs are delivered in July, followed by five more F.27s.
Following one each fatal operational and training accident, the S-61N East Pakistan helicopter service, too expensive to continue, is closed down. One Super Constellation, all three Viscount 815s, two DC-3s, and the last two S-61Ns are retired as orders are placed for three more Boeing 707-340Cs and three F.27s.
The three surviving Super Constellations launch night air coach services over domestic routes in early fall. Beginning November 1-2, flights to Paris, Istanbul, Baghdad, Kuwait, and Nairobi via Aden are offered, followed on November 10 by Bahrain, Doha, and Dubai.
During the year, an IBM 1401 computer is installed at PIA headquarters; it is the first computer in Pakistan. The PIA Air Academy is also launched.
Enplanements dip to 617,560.
The employee population stands at 11,324 in 1967. The Fokkers enter service and B-707-340C flights are inaugurated to Bangkok on April 1. Reciprocal service to Communist China is widened on April 22 and flights to India resume on October 25. In November, Dera Ismail Khan becomes an alternative stop on the Karachi to Rawalpindi route.
Passenger boardings jump 40% to pass the million-mark in annual boardings for the first time (1,029,226).
The total number of employees in 1968 is up to 12,663. Options are taken for two B-747-100s and a fourth B-707-340C is placed in service.
The DC-3s in East Pakistan are all replaced by June with Fokker Friendships. S. U. Durrani is appointed managing director; the carrier’s management structure is now reorganized.
A new purchasing agency, the subsidiary Airline Agencies, Ltd., is created along with the subsidiary PIA Hotels, Ltd., which plans to build a dozen hotels in the country over the next two years.
When Capt. M. Saleghee refuses to depart Canton on September 25 with a B-707-340C he deems unsafe, it is delayed in the Chinese city for three days. On September 28, PIA dismisses the captain and a ground engineer, at which point the airline’s other pilots go out on strike. The job action is resolved the next day when Saleghee is reinstated.
Cargo traffic grows 16.2% and passenger traffic rises 13.8% to 1,171,396. Total revenues earned are $70.88 million.
Early in 1969, Iran Air and THY Turkish Airlines are joined in the study of a joint airline consortium, which is never completed. A fifth Trident 1E is placed in service. A STOL evaluation is undertaken to find an aircraft to replace or supplement the F.27s in East Pakistan. The Dacca to Bangkok route is extended to Manila and Tokyo on November 1.
An F.27-200 with 4 crew and 31 passengers crashes near Shemsher-nagar, Pakistan, on December 30 (7 dead).
Sy stem wide, the workforce totals 13,514 and enplanements are
I, 291,950.
Employment grows 6.9% in 1970 to 14,738 and is 14th largest among all the world’s airlines. The 5 Trident 1Es are sold to China and replaced by 3 B-707-373Cs purchased from World Airways, bringing the fleet total to 23 aircraft: 9 B-707s, 3 B-720Bs, 9 F.27s, and 2 DHC-6s, the latter Canadian aircraft placed in service in East Pakistan.
En route from Rawalpindi to Lahore on August 6, an F.27-200 with 4 crew and 26 passengers crashes 11 nm. SE of its point of origin in thunderstorms; there are no survivors.
The first international service to the new capital of Islamabad is flown by a PIA B-707-340C from Amsterdam.
Late in the year, Stratofreighter service is inaugurated to London.
Passenger boardings accelerate 4.3% to 1.35 million and freight is up 9.4%.
While attempting to land at Shamshernagar in northeast Pakistan on January 1, 1971, an F.27 with 27 aboard crashes (6 dead). A closed circuit television system is installed at Karachi Airport.
The national unrest worsens throughout the next 11 months. December is a terrible month for Pakistan and the airline. On December 3, one
J. Kay, brandishing a pistol, seizes a B-707-340C on the ground at Paris (ORY) with 21 aboard preparing to depart for Rome. Kay threatens to blow up the craft if it is now allowed to depart for Karachi with 20 tons of medical supplies for Bengali refugees, but is captured following a struggle with cockpit personnel. She will be placed on trial and receive a five-year prison sentence, later suspended.
The same day, war breaks out between Pakistan and India over East Pakistani political ambitions. A DHC-6-300 is destroyed during an Indian air raid on Dacca airfield on December 5.
A jetliner with 33 passengers disappears into the Himalayas five days later; the wreckage is found two days later and there are no survivors.
An F.27-200 with four crew en route from Karachi crashes near the Iranian border on December 12; there are no survivors. Three days later, a B-707-340C freighter with five crew crashes while on approach to Urumqi-Diwopu Airport in China, killing all aboard.
Anticipating better days, orders are placed for three DC-10-30s. The Indo-Pakistani conflict is over within two weeks of its start and East Pakistan is reconstituted into the independent nation of Bangladesh. Although the company stops flying into the east, it leaves its 2,500-man local workforce in place. With the two halves of Pakistan now permanently disassociated, PIA traffic demand is reduced by 50% or more.
As a result of the struggle, the carrier suffers a traffic decline to 1,035,623.
Efforts toward averting a potential catastrophe occupy the airline’s management at the beginning of 1972. While every department seeks to renew itself, none is more innovative than marketing. In February, flights to Shanghai and Canton are rerouted from Karachi via Colombo. The company can point with pride to the resumption, in April, of services across the North Atlantic from London to New York.
Late in the year, Rafique Saigol becomes the first businessman to be appointed managing director. The imaginative Batik Route is inaugurated on November 3 from Karachi to Jakarta via Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.
Flight 631, an F.27-600 with 4 crew and 22 passengers crashes into the foothills of the Himalayas, near Jalkot, in bad weather on December 8; there are no survivors.
During the year, terminal facilities at the airports at Islamabad and Karachi are expanded.
The impact of the war with India and the creation of Bangladesh continue to cause severe traffic reversals as passenger boardings drop 21.2% to 854,475 and freight is off 6%.
The employee population in 1973 numbers 12,553. Among the tangible results of recovery from the war with India is the initiation of twice-weekly services from Karachi and Islamabad over the Himalayan Mountains to Peking on January 20; Canton service ends. An order is placed for two Douglas DC-10-30s in April. It will later be shown that the decision to take these aircraft comes as the result of illegal commissions.
An F.27-200 with 6 crew and 34 passengers strikes trees and crashes 800 m. short of the runway at Lyalpur on May 28; amazingly, there are no fatalities.
A management contract is signed with the Maltese government, a B720-040B is provided, and a 20% interest is taken in the new carrier Air Malta Company, Ltd. (2). Senior PIA executive M. M. Salim is sent to the Mediterranean as head of the company team.
During the year, a long-term boom in the transport of Pakistani laborers to the Persian Gulf and Mideast region begins.
Cargo accelerates 5.3% and passenger boardings swell 23.2% to 1,052,713.
Air Marshal Nur Khan returns as chairman in early 1974 and Managing Director Saigol is succeeded by Enver Jamall. A bilateral agreement signed between Pakistan and North Korea provides rights for PIA to carry passengers to P’yongyang and beyond. Permission is also received to overfly that Communist land, making the carrier the first foreign operator to receive that right.
The first of two DC-10-30s to be received during the year is delivered on March 1. On April 4 it is placed on the North Atlantic route to New York, which is rerouted via Paris instead of London and is the subject of an operating rights dispute for some months. Meanwhile, two B720-040Bs are leased to Air Malta Company, Ltd. (2). They are replaced by a B-720-047B (B-720B) purchased from Western Airlines.
During August, a number of Lockheed C-130 Hercules turboprops are leased from the Pakistani Air Force to operate the company’s mountain services. Three more B-720-047Bs, originally flown by Western Airlines in the U. S., join the fleet that includes 6 B-707-340Cs, 1 B720-040B, and 6 F.27s. Five Twin Otters once used in East Pakistan and two Fokker Friendships are sold.
During the year, a new uniform for PIA flight attendants is introduced. A facility is established for testing CF6-50 jet engines and components of DC-10 aircraft.
Passenger boardings drop 24% to 918,443 and freight accelerates 8.4%. Airline employment is 12,930 and the net loss for the year is $1 million.
The workforce is 13,022 in 1975. Five of the Stratoliners are leased out and a third DC-10-30 is delivered, allowing twice-weekly New York service, again via London. Orders are placed for two B-747-200s, an earlier order for Dash-100s having been cancelled due to the Bangladesh independence unrest.
A bomb rips apart a B-707-340C at Islamabad on July 6, a half-hour after the plane arrives from Karachi with 130 passengers; no one aboard is injured. A B-707-340C is sold to Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Ltd. on November 6.
Cargo soars 39% and passenger bookings jump 36% to 1,434,000.
Airline employment grows 5.3% in 1976 to 17,611. A fifth B-720-047B and a fourth DC-10-30 are added and two F.27s leased to Libyan Arab Airlines are returned. Two B-747-282Bs, the former Luis de Camoes and Bartolomeu de Gusmao, are leased from TAP-Air Portugal, S. A. on April 12 and 22, respectively, with an option to purchase. These enter service on May 5 on routes from Karachi and Rawalpindi to New York via London.
Under the leadership of Managing Director Jamall, a new air agreement is negotiated in July with Indian Airlines Corporation Managing Director Mehta and Air India Managing Director Appuswamy, acting on behalf of the Indian government. The arrangement allows service to be started from Karachi to Bombay, Delhi, and Dacca and from Lahore to Delhi.
During the year, a new corporate identity program is implemented.
Freight is up 16.5% and passenger enplanements climb 25% to 1,792,000.
Two more B-707-340Cs are acquired in 1977 and routes are opened to Amman and Djakarta. A strike by pilots and service personnel forces a suspension of services on April 20. Later, two PIA subsidiaries are established and registered in the UAE to promote and manage hotel projects.
Traffic rises to 2,115,516 passengers carried.
Dar Es Salaam and Kilimanjaro are added to the 36-stop international route network in 1978; an internal domestic network of 20 destinations is also maintained.
Armed with a grenade, Saeed Hussain takes over an F.27 with 42 passengers, including Chairman Nur Khan, at the airport at Islamabad on January 20 and demands a ransom of $2 million. Chairman Khan attempts to overpower Khan, but the grenade goes off killing the airline boss. Hussain is beaten by his captives before he is dragged off the plane in critical condition. Hussain will be tried and given a death sentence.
Managing Director Jamall ascends to the chairmanship and $167 million in orders are now placed for four Airbus Industrie A300B4-203s.
On March 2, a man tries to seize a B-747-282B with 357 passengers during a flight from Islamabad to Karachi. He is jumped by three passengers and a grenade goes off, tearing off the pirate’s arm and wounding the three vigilantes. Tried for his crime, the perpetrator will be hanged in 1979.
On December 16, an F.27-200 with two crew crashes while engaged in stall testing at Karachi (one dead).
Passenger boardings jump 20% to 2,769,138 and freight grows 18.6%. Employment is up 11.2% to 21,604. Revenues of $335 million are earned and expenses are $308 million; the net profit skyrockets 75.5% to $26 million.
An automated reservations system is placed in service in March 1979 and a $25.7-million wide-body hanger is completed at Karachi. Domestic stations are cut over to an in-house computerized reservations system.
On July 26, the fleet is enlarged by the addition of a third B-747, a Dash-240B combi (BC), and a leased A300B2-103.
On November 25, the captain of Flight 840 en route from Jeddah to Karachi with 145 mostly Moslem passengers aboard, reports smoke in the cabin. The B-707-340C with 11 crew crashes into a rocky area 125 km. from its point of origin; there are no survivors.
Flights to Moscow largely cease following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan refuses to recognize the Russian-installed government in Kabul and PIA stops flying to that country’s airports.
Passenger bookings climb 7.8% to 2,886,748 and freight rises 10.6%. Revenues are $412.7 million, expenses are $382.2 million, and a record $30.5-million profit is earned.
The workforce is increased by 8.9% in 1980 to 21,201. The carrier’s 20% holding in Air Malta, Ltd. is sold to the Maltese government and M. M. Salim returns to assume the managing directorship.
On March 7, another B-747-240BC is delivered. The first three A300B4-203s arrive and are placed into service. Later, a new flight control system is opened at Karachi Airport.
After stowing away on a B-707-340C at London (LHR) on November 12, 14-year-old Mark Sherlock travels to Damascus unchallenged.
Passenger enplanements accelerate 9.4% to 3.01 million and freight moves ahead by 4.7% to 233.42 million FTKs.
The workforce in 1981 stands at 21,127, a 0.3% drop, and one DC-10-30 is leased out as the fourth A300B4-203 arrives. Two de Havilland Canada DHC-6s are purchased from the Canadian airline Austin Airways, Ltd.
A B-720-047B with 7 crew and 72 passengers, is damaged beyond repair as the result of a bad landing at Quetta on January 8; there are no fatalities. A Karachi Airport hangar fire on February 2 destroys a DC-10-30.
On March 2, armed political dissidents take over Flight 326, a B-720-047B with 159 persons en route from Karachi to Peshawar and force it to fly to Kabul, Afghanistan. The release of relatives jailed in recent Karachi political disturbances is demanded and the plane sits on the ground as negotiations continue.
On March 5, hostage Tariq Rahim, a Pakistani diplomat, is murdered and thrown off the plane, but on March 7, four hostages are freed, including two American women, Deborah Weisner and Charlotte Hubbell.
The Boeing flies to Damascus on March 8, where new negotiations are started with Syrian and Pakistani officials. The next day, all of the captives are freed, but the hijackers threaten “extremely drastic measures” unless all of the demands are met. Still, on March 10, the pirates trim their demands, reducing the number of prisoners to be freed and extend their deadline in response to pleas from a Syrian official.
On March 12, after the hijackers set a new deadline and promise to kill three American hostages if it is not met, the Pakistani government agrees to release 55 political prisoners. The next day, Libya promises to receive the freed Pakistani prisoners.
On March 14, the hijackers surrender to Syrian authorities, who have promised them political asylum in exchange for an end to the 13-day ordeal. Ironically, upon the release of the hostages, it is found that one, American Craig Claymore, has been wanted by U. S. authorities since February 20 as the alleged leader of a heroin-smuggling ring; another, Lawrence Gordon Lome, is identified by Canadian authorities as an escaped convict, missing for five years. Both will be extradited.
An F.27-600 with three crew on a training flight crashes at Gilgit on June 5 while practicing touch-and-go landings; there are no fatalities.
Pakistani military authorities arrest union officials and raid airport offices in an August 17 crackdown that is officially designed to save the airline from bankruptcy.
Later, a duty free shopping complex is set up at Karachi Airport. During the year, hijacker Saeed Hussain, convicted of the January 1978 piracy in which Chairman Khan died, exhausts his appeals and is hanged.
Chairman/CEO Jamall retires at the end of the year; he will publish his recollections in a limited edition 20 years later as I Remember: A Mosaic of My Memories of Civil Aviation on the Subcontinent, 1939 to 1981 (London, Eng.: Private print, 1990).
Passenger boardings rise 5.9% to 3,143,122, but cargo dips 3.5% to 244.18 million FTKs. Still, the picture grows dark: payroll can only be met by taking high interest, short-term loans and rising fuel bills are illegally paid with money from pension funds.
The military government of President Zia intervenes at the beginning of 1982 to save the carrier from possible bankruptcy. Secretary General of Defense M. Rahim Khan is appointed chairman and Air Marshal Wigar Azim becomes managing director.
Severe cost-cutting measures are undertaken, including reductions in personnel (down to 20,813) and a ban on union activities. Government approval is given for the purchase of a DC-10-30 and an A300B4-203, plus improved computerization of the reservations system.
Freight drops 9.1% to 266.14 million FTKs; however, passenger boardings, reacting to improved service standards, rise 8.1% to 3,256,000.
The workforce is reduced another 9.1% in 1983 to 19,420. Computer automation of the budget, finance, revenue, and other important areas is undertaken. Coach-class services between Lahore and Karachi and between Islamabad and Lahore are introduced.
Cargo grows 3.1% this year to 229.38 million FTKs and passenger bookings advance 6% to 3,462,192. On revenues of $577.4 million, up 17.4%, a $33-million operating profit is realized.
The employee population declines 0.3% in 1984 to 19,360. The fleet now comprises 7 B-707-340Cs, 4 B-747-240BCs, 4 DC-10-30s, 9 F.27s, 3 B-720-047Bs, and 5 A300B4-203s.
A third transatlantic flight is added in January, with service from New York (JFK) to Istanbul and Islamabad via Frankfurt. The DC-10-30/A300B4-203 option is changed in August to a $157-million order for six B-737-340s.
Cargo soars 16.4% to 268.18 million FTKs and passenger boardings grow 5.5% to 3,659,360. A $41.9-million operating profit is posted.
Airline employment is 19,122 in 1985. The first Asian Dash-300 customer, PIA receives the first of five ordered B-737-340s in July; the remaining four will be delivered by year’s end. All but two B-707-340Cs are replaced as two A300B4-203s also join the fleet in summer, along with two DHC-6s that begin feeder operations from Islamabad-Lahore.
Four domestic destinations are added and additional Lahore-Jeddah service is provided. Copenhagen becomes a stop in Europe, Damascus is added as a new destination, Islamabad to Moscow to London service is reintroduced, all-cargo service begins to Zurich, and a fourth Karachi to New York frequency commences.
Late in the year, four B-747-217Bs are acquired from CPAir in exchange for four DC-10-30s, with the first Jumbojet arriving at Karachi on December 18.
During the year, new flight attendant uniforms are introduced, along with the first automated ticketing facility.
Passenger boardings accelerate 5.3% to 3,846,000 and freight is up 16.1% to 314.28 million FTKs. Revenues are $601.35 million and expenses are $550.11 million, allowing an operating profit of $51.24 million.
The payroll grows 6.2% in 1986 to 20,300. With the arrival of the sixth B-737-340 early in the year, the last B-720-047B is retired. The government now requires a significant increase in the airline’s domestic regional and feeder operations. Air Marshal M. A. Daudpota becomes managing director in April and the second Canadian Jumbojet arrives on May 8. In July, PIA Holdings, Ltd. is established for the purpose of managing the carrier’s subsidiaries.
In August, a business-class service, called Sohni, is introduced on all B-747-240BC/-217B frequencies, including that started to Manila and Tokyo by the third B-747-217B, following its arrival on September 25.
While on initial approach to Peshawar on the night of October 23, an F.27-600 with 5 crew and 49 passengers, drops below minimum altitude and hits the edge of a ditch 10 km. S of its destination. The turboprop breaks up, coming to rest upside down (13 dead).
Late in the year, a 10% domestic fare increase is permitted and on November 6 the last B-747-217B is delivered from Vancouver.
Customer bookings accelerate 3.3% to 4,154,257 and cargo climbs 3.5% to 320.55 million FTKs. Revenues reach $607.6 million and despite a loss of $18.5 million on domestic services, an overall $35.3-million gain is generated.
The workforce is cut 2.8% in 1987 to 18,910; however, the modernization of the jet fleet is completed. One Stratoliner is hush-kitted in the fall and begins all-cargo services to Europe and the U. S.
During the year, a flight kitchen is inaugurated at Islamabad and flights begin to Toronto.
Revenue passenger kilometers flown advance 3.9% to 7.3 billion while freight climbs 3.3% to 322.9 million FTKs. Revenues rise 6.2% to $636 million, but fast-growing costs whittle down the operating income to $40.8 million.
The fleet in 1988 includes 6 B-707s, 8 B-747-200s, (including 4 acquired from CPAir in exchange for 4 DC-10-30s), 11 F.27s, 8 A300B4-203s, 6 B-737-340s, and 2 Twin Otters.
The DHC-6s begin flying to Muzaffarabad and Rawalakot. Later, one is converted for use by the government as a VIP aircraft. Two provincial government officials traveling on Flight 320, an A300B4-203 with 156 passengers en route from Karachi to Quetta on March 12, subdue a man who has shot an airline guard during his hijacking attempt.
En route from Karachi to Quetta on March 29, a B-707 with 143 passengers is captured by a lone assailant demanding to be flown to India. The perpetrator is overpowered by crew members, restraining him until the aircraft reaches its scheduled destination.
Passenger boardings, which are once again reported, jump 9.7% to 4,881,160 while cargo accelerates by 19.4% to 393.03 million FTKs. Revenues climb 11.7% to $652 million and grant a $39.91-million operating profit. A net profit of $23.8 million is also generated.
In 1989, the 19,350-employee corporation withdraws 1 B-707-340C and adds 3 more Friendships, purchased from Rio Sul (Empresa Rio-Sul Servicos Aereos Regionals, S. A.) of Brazil. In April, a contract is signed with Zambia Airways Corporation to provide the African carrier with assistance in the areas of data processing, computerization, accounting, engineering, and flight operations.
Beginning in May, PIA introduces the first direct Hadj flights from Lahore to Jeddah. As of June 30, the company has an authorized share capital of $236.4 million, of which $129.7 million is issued, subscribed, and paid.
One of the new Fokkers with 5 crew and 49 passengers departs Gilgit on August 25 on a service to Islamabad, but crashes in the Himalayan Mountains near Bunji; there are no survivors.
With the improvement of Lahore Airport, Jumbojet flights to London from that destination are now inaugurated, with Toronto also joining the route network. Additionally, the carrier’s terminal facilities at New York (JFK) are completely renovated, with special attention shown to first-class and business-class lounges.
During the year, two women pilots are hired.
Customer bookings bounce upward by 2.4% to 5,008,971 while cargo moves ahead by 7.7% to 418.66 million FTKs. Revenues increase 11.4% to $657.54 million, expenses are up 10.9% to $611.72 million, and operating income is $45.81 million. Net gain inches up to $25.4 million.
Company employment grows 3.1% in 1990 to 19,950, 25th highest among all the airlines of the world. Upon the retirement of Chairman Daudpota, PAF Air Marshal Farooq F. Khan is named to the vacant post, with longtime official Arif Ali Khan Abbasi as managing director. The fleet now includes 8 A300B4-203s, 1 each B-707-351B and B-707-323C, 2 B-707-340Cs, 1 B-707-373C, 6 B-737-340s, 4 B-747-217Bs, 2 each B-747-282Bs, B-747-240B/Cs, and DHC-6-300s, 13 F.27-200s, and 1 F.27-400. Orders are outstanding for 3 A310-308s.
Frequencies on the New York route become daily and additional markets are added at Hong Kong and Jakarta. Additionally, flights begin from Peshawar to Jeddah via Lahore and directly from Lahore to Bangkok.
In July, a joint marketing agreement is signed with Air Lanka, Ltd. which provides for revenue pooling on routes from Colombo to Karachi, Karachi to Bombay, and Male to Colombo.
Enplanements through November total 4,761,198 and 386.68 million FTKs are flown. Income exceeds expenses and there are profits: $27.9 million (operating) and $13.4 million (net).
No personnel changes are made in 1991, while the first A310-308 is received in June. Peshawar is added as the fourth Hadj departure point, while agreements are signed to link PIA’s reservations with SABRE, Galileo, and Amadeus.
Passenger boardings for the whole year dip 2% to 5,033,000, while freight falls 10.6% to 378.38 million FTKs. Although revenues ascend 10.3% to $738.8 million, expenses are more and as a result, the operating loss is $4.8 million. There is a $13.7-million net loss.
The employee population is increased by 5% in 1992 to 20,950.
In compliance with the United Nation’s air embargo of Libya, PIA, on April 15 announces the suspension of its weekly service to Tripoli.
A company employee expresses hope on April 28 that the company will soon be able to resume flights to Kabul, suspended 13 years earlier. Pakistan, a backer of the mujahedeen who have taken over the Afghanistan government, had not recognized the ousted government of President Najibullah.
PIA, in May, becomes the first airline to fly to Tashkent in the new state of Uzbekistan; the weekly roundtrip flight from Islamabad provides access to the famous historical cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. Two Ilyushin Il-86s are wet-leased from Uzbekistan Airways and are employed to carry Hadj pilgrims between May 7 and July 15. Direct flights between Islamabad and Singapore and between Lahore and Kuwait are introduced, as are services to Zurich and Sharjah.
On August 3, the government announces a policy of domestic regulation; although private airlines will be allowed to compete on local services, PIA retains its status as single overseas flag carrier.
While en route from Karachi to Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 28, Flight 268, an A300B4-203 with 12 crew and 155 passengers, crashes into a cloud-shrouded mountain at the 7,300-ft. level; there are no survivors.
Customer bookings increase 11.8% to 5,918,000 while cargo swells 7.3% to 406.19 million FTKs. Revenues move to $880.4 million and expenses are $839.5 million. As a result, the operating surplus is $40.9 million and net gain of $40 million is banked.
No changes are made in 1993 to the workforce of Chairman Anwar Zahid and Managing Director/Air Vice Marshal Farooq Umar. Over the past several years, the fleet has been increased by the addition of two A300B4-203s leased from Air France and two A310-308s. Jakarta, Johannesburg, Baku, and Alma Ata join a route network that now includes, in addition to 35 domestic stops, services to Abu Dhabi, Amman, Amsterdam, Athens, Baghdad, Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Bombay, Cairo, Colombo, Copenhagen, Damascus, Delhi, Dhaka, Dharan, Doha, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Male, Manila, Manchester, Moscow, Muscat, Nairobi, New York, Paris, Rome, Sana’a, Sharjah, Tashkent, Tehran, Tokyo, Toronto, Tripoli, Riyadh, Singapore, and Zurich.
In May, the first Hadj flights are flown from Sukkur and Multan. The last two B-707-373Cs are withdrawn in December.
Passenger boardings slip 3.3% to 5,725,466 while freight is off slightly, 0.9%, to 409.82 million FTKs. Profits are $22.9 million (operating) and $25.6 million (net), the latter earned largely through the disposition of A300B4-203s.
The employee population is reduced by 0.7% in 1994 to 20,800, even though new services are added to Al-Ain, Ashkabad, Baku, Ras al-Khaimah, and Fujairah. Air Safari flights begin to northern Pakistan, taking tourists to visit mountain spots. Plans are made to initiate new services in the coming year to Beirut, Johannesburg, and Hong Kong.
While on final approach to Dera Ismail Khan following a July 6 service from Islamabad, Flight 684, an F.27-200 with 4 crew and 38 passengers suffers engine problems. Losing height rapidly, the crew must choose between landing in a river and landing in a rice paddy. The latter is chosen and the turboprop, after touching down, slides 300 m. into a tree. Although the aircraft is damaged beyond repair, there are no fatalities.
Service to Ras al-Khaimah in the UAE begins in September, the sixth Mideast destination. In November, the government allows the carrier to increase its fares; price rises will continue to rise on a regular basis.
Passenger boardings dip 0.2% to 5,713,054, but freight grows by 8% to 442.43 million FTKs. Revenues fall 4.6% to $770.07 million and although the operating profit is up to $29.9 million, net gain drops to $4.5 million.
There is no change in the workforce during 1995. An A310-308 resumes weekly services for the carrier between Karachi and Beirut on January 26; PIA is the 26th foreign carrier to return to Lebanon since the end of its civil war.
New services to South Africa and Hong Kong also commence. The Air Safari flights prove so popular that a B-737-33A is dedicated to the service, which, due to the number of Japanese passengers, has doubled the load factor on the Islamabad-Tokyo route.
Helicopter services in support of tourism are introduced from Islamabad, Abbottabad, Lahore, and Sialkot. The company’s homepage on the World Wide Web is opened.
Flight 722, a B-747-240 with 15 crew and 240 passengers suffers an uncontained engine failure after takeoff from New York (JFK) on December 7; the aircraft safely returns and no injuries are reported.
Customer bookings decline by 6.3% to 5,354,809 while cargo inches up 0.6% to 445.04 million FTKs. There are profits: $39 million (operating) and $10 million (net).
Airline employment is boosted 6.9% in 1996 to 21,707 and the fleet now operates 47 aircraft. M. Nawaz Tiwana is named managing director. The government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is toppled during November.
On December 8, the company’s A310-308s launch new twice-weekly flights via Frankfurt to New York and Washington, D. C. This routing is followed on December 12 with twice-weekly B-747-217B or B-747-282B frequencies via Amsterdam to New York and Chicago. Yangon also joins the regional route network.
Passenger boardings shoot up 6% to 5,677,398 and 423.42 million FTKs are operated, a 4.9% drop. Revenues are also off, by 3.5%, to $788 million, but costs also fall, declining 3.3% to $752 million. Operating gain declines $3 million from the previous year, while the net profit is down $4 million.
The workforce is cut 3.4% in 1997 to 5,223. B-747-240B/Cs replace the earlier passenger-configured Jumbojets on the Chicago route on January 15.
Nawaz Sharif becomes Prime Minister in February; the new national leader is reportedly in favor of the airline’s independence. On March 20, a $1.2-billion fleet enhancement plan is announced that has as its goal the replacement of 21 of the carrier’s 46 aircraft over the next 3 years. A plan for capitalization and financial restructuring of the flag carrier is also unveiled.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the airline lays off 1,400 of 2,000 “unqualified” workers given positions during the regime of former Prime Minister Bhutto. Many of those laid off appeal to the courts and are reinstated. Due to a 4-hr. boarding card mix-up, Prime Minister Sharif is unable to take a flight from Islamabad to Karachi that he had booked during the month. Bumped to a later Karachi flight, the angry leader ensures that additional positions are vacated.
Parliamentary Secretary Syed Zafar Ali Shah informs the National Assembly on May 14 that previous recommendations to privatize the airline or acquire new aircraft will not be implemented. Meanwhile, Managing Director Tiwana recommends that the airline board be restructured in order to eliminate government functionaries and patronage appointments. In mid-month, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, an experienced engineering and five-term member of the National Assembly, is named chairman. He succeeds Defense Secretary Hasan Raza Pasha.
In late spring, much of the management structure is altered. While also serving as Minister of State and the Prime Minister’s aviation advisor, Chairman Abbasi holds a press conference on June 4 to announce that “the era of political pressures and bribery” is over at the carrier. He notes that the government has granted the corporation’s board full autonomy to end political patronage and to operate the airline “on purely commercial lines.” Abbasi also concedes that the U. S. service is unprofitable.
On July 6, Yangon becomes a twice-weekly stop on the carrier’s A300B4-203 service from Karachi to Bangkok. Unprofitable services to Athens, Washington, D. C., and Chicago are withdrawn in July.
Also during the month, the financially strapped carrier, having put up its spare parts inventory and common stock as collateral, receives shortterm loans of $25 million and Rs 2.3 billion from The National Bank of Pakistan and Habib Bank, Ltd., respectively. The funds will be employed to meet the carrier’s most urgent billing in both foreign and local currency.
On September 12, it is announced that the company has put off a decision on a multimillion-dollar wide-bodied aircraft to replace its aging Boeings.
A310-308 service is resumed from Washington, D. C. (lAD) to Frankfurt and Pakistan on October 26. Flights depart from Washington, D. C. (IAD) on Tuesdays and Fridays, with the former continuing to Lahore and Karachi and the latter going by way of Islamabad to Karachi.
Frequencies to Johannesburg commence in late fall.
Customer bookings ascend 3.1% to 5,830,212 while freight inches up 0.7% to 426.2 million FTKs. Revenues total $817 million, but expenses reach $936.7 million. Consequently, there is a $119.7-million operating loss and an equal net loss.
Airline employment stands at 18,034 in 1998. The fleet, 93.8% of which is Stage III-certified, includes 32 airplanes: 2 B-707Fs, 10 A300s, 8 B-747-200s, and 6 each B-737s and A310s. A second weekly B-737-340 service is opened between Pasni and Sharjah Pasni at the end of March, along with new twice-weekly A300 frequencies from Quetta to Peshawar.
Following India’s explosion of several test atomic bombs during the spring, there is growing public reaction throughout the subcontinent. Having arrived from Turbat and Gwador after dark on May 25, an F.27-200 with 29 passengers, is hijacked on the ground at Hyderabad Airport by three Baluchistan students who believe they are still in India.
These members of the Baluchistan Students Federation undertake negotiations with an official they believe to be Pakistan’s ambassador to India, demanding an end to Pakistan’s plans to test its own A-weapons in their home region. Just before dawn on May 26, the Fokker is stormed by government commandos, who free all aboard and arrest the students.
The three skyjackers and an airport security official who had conspired to allow them to board the Fokker with weapons, are tried by a special antiterrorism court in Hyderabad. On August 20, all are sentenced to hang within a week.
On June 1, PIA withdraws its first-class facilities on international flights. From this point on, all international flights are operated with business - and economy-class seating only. Also on June 1, Rangoon flights are added on alternate Thursdays.
Passenger boardings drop 9.5% to 4.65 million, even as cargo traffic climbs 17.1% to $327.72 million FTKs. An Rs 2.16-billion operating profit is posted for the year ($46.83 million).
It is announced on February 4, 1999 that the company’s last two Stratofreighters, the B-707-323C and B-707-340C, are being withdrawn from the fleet and will be sold by March 1. It anticipates their replacement with two new freighters.
Discussions opened earlier with Korean Airlines/Korean Air (KAL) concerning the possible acquisition by PIA of two B-747-3B5Bs ends at mid-month. KAL wishes to sell the aircraft while the Pakistan line wishes only to lease.
Chairman Abbasi informs Reuters, Ltd. on February 25 that PIA will decide within the next six to eight weeks on what type of long-haul aircraft to purchase as a replacement for its aging passenger fleet. The choice will be made from among the Airbus A340-300, A330-300, and A330-200 versus the Boeing 777-200 or B-747-400. Abbasi also goes on to say that six of the current B-747-200s will be phased out and sold and will be replaced with B-747-300s leased from either Singapore Airlines, Ltd. or Cathay Pacific Airways (Pty.), Ltd. Talks are now underway with both carriers.
A new station is opened at Shannon, Ireland, on March 1; the Irish airport will serve as a technical transit stop for company flights en route from Karachi to the U. S. and Canada. Upwards of 72 crew will be based at Limerick; the new enterprise will pump I?1.5 million in revenues into the local economy via hotel bills, with another I?1 million in airport handling fees. Irish residents are almost as excited to learn that Saleem Sherwani, a double Olympian and double World Cup gold medalist who is one of Pakistan’s greatest hockey players, is PIA’s new Shannon station manager.
It is announced on March 5 that all six B-747-367s owned by Cathay Pacific will be chartered. The Irish Times reports that the first two passenger flights into Shannon arrive on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day; one is routed out to Washington, D. C. (lAD) and Toronto and the other to New York (JFK).
During the first quarter, a five-year contract is signed with Transaer International, Ltd. Under its terms, the company will wet-lease four A300B4-203s from the Irish carrier to assist in the annual Hadj pilgrimage program.
The Cathay Pacific Jumbojets are introduced, beginning on May 1, on revenue flights to the U. K. and Saudi Arabia (frequencies to Saudi Arabia are enhanced from 21 to 23 every week). All appear in the company’s new livery, which includes an all-white fuselage, larger titles in green, and an ethnic-patterned tail reminiscent of those of Aeromexico (2) (Aerovias de Mexico, S. A. de C. V.). Indeed, so pleased are company officials with the new tail design that it will be ordered applied to existing fleet aircraft, some of which will not otherwise be repainted.
Also on May 1, direct flights begin to Dubai from Faisalabad and Multan. Simultaneously, regular shuttle flights every three hours in each direction are introduced between Karachi and Islamabad and Karachi and Lehore. Tokyo (NRT) terminator flights are made one-stop (Manila), while return frequencies to Amman, Istanbul, and Tehran become twice weekly.
Despite the Kargil border conflict, ongoing since May, air travel between India and Pakistan remains unaffected. As late as July 15, it is noted by The Times of India that PIA continues to operate five-times-a-week A300B4-203 service between Karachi and Bombay. Indeed, since May, traffic on the route has increased.
As related in a sensational trial the following February, the routine October 12 service from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Karachi nearly ends in disaster. Just as pilot Capt. Syed Sarwat Hussein is lifting his A300B4 into the air on its homeward flight, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, in a continuing national political feud, fires Army chief Gen. Per-vez Musharraf, one of the 190 other passengers aboard. As the Airbus approaches Karachi, Sharif allegedly orders that it not be allowed to land. Running out of fuel, Hussein is forced to locate an alternate landing field and determines that he can reach the south Pakistan city of Nawabshah. While into his descend, Hussein receives word that that airport is also closed to him (although he is able to learn that it was not closed to other traffic). An ATC message is now received warning that the jetliner must fly to another country, as it does not have permission to land anywhere in Pakistan. Continuing on toward Nawabshah, the pilot radios back that, if he is not permitted to land, the aircraft will run out of fuel and crash, killing all aboard. As the aircraft flies on toward its potential fiery end, the Pakistani military takes over the Karachi Airport and the ATC and orders Hussein to return. The A300 lands with minutes of fuel remaining.
Passenger boardings this year fall 4.2% to 5,029,000, while cargo drops 11.2% to 315.61 million FTKs. The previous year’s operating loss is turned into a $9.63-million operating gain.
Airline employment at the beginning of 2000 stands at 17,836, a 1.1% decline over the previous 12 months. The B-747 fleet now includes 2 each Dash-282Bs and Dash-240Bs, 4 Dash-217Bs, and 5 Dash-367s.
The trial of Nawaz Sharif, since deposed as prime minister, opens at Karachi at the end of January. The Pakistani Army publicly charges him with giving the orders barring Gen. Musharraf’s plane from landing the previous October and endangering the lives of all aboard. The charge, which Sharif denies, carries the most severe penalty if proven. Among more than 50 witnesses called to testify against the former government leader—and by far the most damning—is PIA pilot Hussein, captain of the endangered Airbus.
To coincide with the beginning of the summer schedule at the end of March, the company changes the colors of its aircraft tail fins from “flowery” green to sold green.
Twice-weekly B-747-367 return flights begin on April 16 from Karachi to Birmingham, England, via Copenhagen. Simultaneously, five-times-a-week roundtrips are launched from Manchester, England, to New York (JFK), employing B-747-367s on two services and B-747-240Cs on the other three.
Twice-weekly A310-308 roundtrips are begun on May 23 from Karachi to Hong Kong and are flown via either Lahore or Islamabad and Bangkok.
Suspended for two years, twice-weekly B-707-320C roundtrip allcargo service is resumed on June 25 between Karachi and London.
On June 27, the media reports that PIA will be discharging 900 employees due to “inefficiency and corruption.” The news causes much consternation among the carrier’s staff, leading Managing Director Sher Afgan Malik to offer a reassurance on July 1 that no jobs would be lost.
Talks designed by the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association to regain certain free travel facilities withdrawn from its members on September 6 are held with the airline’s top executives on September 7. When these prove fruitless, the carrier’s flyers commence a three-day “go-slow” campaign, which has an impact on PIA’s domestic and international schedules.
Over the Boston region on September 13, Flight 722, a B-747-367 with 120 passengers en route from New York (JFK) to Karachi via Manchester is forced to return to its point of origin after New York police receive a telephone call stating three bombs are aboard the plane. A thorough search of the plane and passengers’ luggage finds no bomb and the Jumbojet is allowed to depart after a five-hour delay. Most surmise that the reason for the hoax is that Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Musharraf, who had come to the UN to attend the Millennium summit, is a passenger.
While on descent into Lahore on an October 8 service from Bhawalpur, the crew of Flight 604, an F.27-200, are distressed to learn that the rear wheels of the turboprop will not deploy. The aircraft circles the airport for 35 minutes attempting to lower them; failing, they execute a forced landing during which the wing is badly damaged. No injuries are reported.
Flights on the unprofitable routes to Amman, Male, Tehran, Cairo, Damascus, Baku, Zurich, and Nairobi are cut on October 29 in favor of expanded frequencies to the Gulf States and the U. K.
In one of a number of high-profile prosecutions brought under the anticorruption campaign of Gen. Musharraf, Air Marshal Waqar Azeem (Ret.), PIA’s former managing director and three of his brothers are found guilty of corruption by the Accountability Court in Rawalpindi on November 12. Azeem receives a $30,000 fine and is sentenced to seven years in prison; his brothers each receive four years. The air marshal’s wife, who has also been tired, is acquitted.
When a new highway between Islamabad and Faisalabad is opened on November 18, the PIA air link between the two cities is discontinued.
When ailing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is pardoned by Pakistan’s military government from the life prison term imposed upon him for hijacking and terrorism, he is required to go into exile. When it is made known that a PIA aircraft will not be available for an exile flight, a Saudi Arabian Airlines B-777-268 transports Sharif and members of his family from an air base near Islamabad to Jeddah on December 9. Sharif receives an official welcome upon his arrival, a move considered something of a slap by his former captors.
PALAIR MACEDONIAN AIR LINES, A. D.: Macedonia (19911996). Established at Skopje in 1991, Palair is organized to fly regional services into southern Europe over routes the grounded JAT Yugoslav Airlines is forced to discontinue. President Bitoljana Vanja’s fleet comprises 4 Antonov An-24s and 1 Tupolev Tu-154B-2 leased from supporting Balkan Bulgarian Airlines.
Two Fokker 100s arrive in 1992, along with two more Tu-154B-2s, as nonscheduled charter routes to Western Europe are maintained, particularly for migrant workers from Turkey and the former Yugoslav federation.
Operations continue in 1993 under Serbian control. Just after takeoff from Skopje in a snowstorm on March 5 on a service to Zurich, Flight 301, a Fokker 100 with 5 crew and 92 passengers loses roll controllability due to ice on its wings. The aircraft smashes into the ground 382 m. past the end of the runway, where it breaks into 3 pieces (83 dead).
The jetliner is replaced by two F.28 Fellowships, a Dash-1000 and Dash-4000, leased from TAT European Airlines, S. A. In July, orders are placed for five more Fokker 100s, the first two of which are delivered beginning on October 1.
Destinations visited in 1994 include Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Salzburg, Vienna, and Zurich. Three more Fokker 100s arrive and an order is placed for a Boeing 737500.
Flights continue in 1995, although the Boeing order is cancelled. Destinations visited include Geneva, Hamburg, Istanbul, Moscow, Rome, and Stuttgart. Flights are suspended in late December.
On February 15, 1996, President Clinton lifts the sanctions placed on JAT Yugoslav Airlines by the U. S. five years earlier. By May, JAT is operating to all 32 of its 1990 European destinations, although with fewer frequencies.
With the major flag carrier permitted to step up its resumption of services, the political need for Palair disappears. Yugoslavia now withdraws Palair’s financial base, causing it to stop flying. The bright red aircraft are returned to their owners and company headquarters are shut down. Palair remains registered with lATA until 1998.
World History
