PIA To Have Fleet Of 60 Aircraft By 2020: Hildenbrand

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2016 ) : Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Chief Executive Officer Bernd Hildenbrand Monday said that the national carrier is targeting to have a fleet of 60 aircraft by 2020.

Speaking as a guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Rotari Club Karachi, he said, in addition to increasing domestic flights, the PIA is planning to increase its flights to Paris, New York, Kuala Lumpur, Jeddah, Beijing and Toronto, while starting new flights to Barcelona, Leipzig, Salalah and Bangkok.

He also said the PIA is considering a separate dedicated unit for taking care of Hajj and Umrah operation. He pointed out that this year the PIA transported around 52,000 passengers during Hajj with more than 95 percent special Hajj flights going on or ahead of time.

The PIA CEO said improvements are being made in every department to bring the national carrier in the top 100 airlines of the world.

He informed that the PIA has attained a regularity of 99 percent during the past few months, and its on-time performance has reached 85 percent, which is second only to Saudi Airlines in the region.

He mentioned that PIA employees are being asked to change their mindset and focus on customer facilitation. The PIA has recently launched a cellphone application in addition to making PIA available on Expedia and Travelocity for providing a better experience to the public, he added.

Hildenbrand said that the management is laying special emphasis on the cleanliness of aircraft. Rotary Club President Shahzad Sabir regarded Hildenbrand's presentation as very informative, in which a large number of members showed keen interest. PIA's Directors for Fleet Planning, Amir Ali and HR, Wing Cmdr (R) Raheel Ahmed were also present on the occasion.