A second ATR-72 aircraft arrived at the Jinnah International Airport on May 1, 2015, to join the PIA fleet. This is the second of the five additional ATR-72 aircraft that the PIA is inducting in its existing ATR fleet, according to PIA spokesman Muhammad Aamir Memon.
Under its fleet expansion plan, the PIA is acquiring five French-built ATR-72 aircraft, each with a capacity of 70 seats on dry lease for a period of eight years and this is the second of the newly acquired aircraft.
According to the PIA spokesman, the ATR will be operated with an all-economy class configuration. Since the state-of-the-art turbo-prop plane is fuel-efficient, it will further reinforce PIA’s savings plans.
The PIA chairman expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem for taking active interest in reviving PIA and for providing necessary funds for the purpose.
On induction of the latest ATR aircraft, Nasser NS Jaffer said now the PIA would be in an even better position to rationalise its domestic routes to further facilitate passengers as the ATR would be flying on domestic and feeder routes and other short-haul sectors.
He hoped that all formalities would be completed by the PIA at the earliest for the aircraft to start operating in the PIA fleet. With increase in the number of aircraft in the PIA fleet, the airline would now be in a better position to offer additional flights and also increase flight frequency on existing profitable routes.