PIA aircraft held in Malaysia

On the other hand, PIA airliners are now routinely held at airports around the world mostly over financial misdemeanours and other legal issues. The latest incident occurred in Kuala Lumpur international airport when a Boeing 777 aircraft of PIA was stopped over a legal dispute. The aircraft’s leasing company had approached a local court on claims that the airline owed it $4.5 million. Obviously the claim has been disputed by the PIA mentioning that it owned the aircraft and the leasing company only owned one of the mounted engines. PIA however conceded that it did owe $1.8 million to the claiming company but asserted that the outstanding amount has been duly paid. It was not made clear though that why the airliner was stopped if there were no arrears to clear. One can imagine the discomfiture experienced by the passengers of the said flight that were accommodated on an alternative aircraft while PIA claimed that the disputed Boeing 777 will operate as a normal commercial flight from Kuala Lumpur. This is the second dispute in which a PIA aircraft in Malaysia has been seized as earlier in January 2021 another Boeing 777 was held back for two weeks over a case involving $14 million unpaid dues. The Weekender