According to information on following page of official PIA website, the airline intends to wet lease aircraft for Hajj flights 2011.

Link: PIA Tender Notices

Does anyone know which type of aircraft PIA intends to wet lease for this year's Hajj flights and number of aircraft required ?

The airline seems to have good number of five to six active Boeing 747s available for Hajj flights along with selected number of Boeing 777 and Airbus A310-300 aircraft.

Or are there plans to wet lease narrowbody aircraft like Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 family aircraft to transport pilgrims from smaller airports to bigger airports for their onward journey to Saudi Arabia ?

Last year PIA used its own Boeing 747 and Boeing 777 aircraft for Hajj flights.

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According to details in a tender notice published in today's (June 8) newspaper, it seems PIA intends to wet lease only one aircraft from any of the following four aircraft types.

Airbus A300-600
Airbus A330
Boeing 767-300
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar



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Few years ago also at least one TriStar aircraft was wet leased by PIA for operating Hajj flights.

Askari Aviation (www.askariaviation.com) may show interest in offering one of TriStars used by it in recent times for United Nations (UN) charter flights.

Apparently, Askari Aviation in recent times has used at least two Barq Aviation (www.barqaviation.com) TriStar aircraft for UN charter flights. Barq Aviation is based in Amman, Jordan.

The two TriStar aircraft are registered in USA as N194AT and N164AT for Musleh Fadia, according to info on Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website www.faa.gov.

1) Lockheed L-1011-385-1-15 TriStar 100 (registration N194AT) with Tajik Air titles used by Barq Aviation and Askari Aviation for UN charter flights. This particular TriStar was built in 1982 and Trans World Airlines (TWA) was it first operator.

2) Lockheed L-1011-385-3 TriStar 500 (registration N164AT). This particular TriStar was also built in 1982 and Alia - Royal Jordanian Airlines was it first operator.

Photos of the two aircraft taken at Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, United Arab Emirates (UAE), in March 2011.

Lockheed L-1011-385-1-15 TriStar 100 (registration N194AT)

Click here to see large photo.

Lockheed L-1011-385-3 TriStar 500 (registration N164AT)

Click here to see large photo.

Abbas

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Adding a junk airplane i.e. L1011 to the list means the ad is tailor made for Askari Aviation.
Another scam in the offing

Just hope Tristar is not chosen. I really wonder what CAA is doing letting this aircraft operate in and out of Pakistan.

Btw, the two TriStar aircraft seen in photos posted in this topic were built in 1982 making them three years younger than PIA Boeing 747-200B Combi (AP-BAK) which was built in 1979.

However Pakistan CAA must keep monitoring maintenance record and airworthiness of all aircraft operated to/from Pakistani airports by local and foreign airlines.

Abbas

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Strange news report on 'Pakistan Observer' claiming that Pakistan CAA has blocked PIA from using Boeing 777 for Hajj flights from Quetta Airport ?

Last year PIA used Boeing 777 aircraft for transporting Hajj pilgrims from/to Quetta Airport.

The report claims that CAA considers it unsafe to operate PIA Boeing 777 aircraft from Quetta due to law & order situation in Balochistan Province.

If the airport is unsafe for Boeing 777 flights then how can it be safe for flights to be operated by leased aircraft - apparently the report is using term 'private airbuses' for leased aircraft.

Btw, if I remember correctly some 4 or 5 years ago, leased TriStar was used by PIA for transporting Hajj pilgrims from Quetta.

Quoted below is 'Pakistan Observer' news report.



Abbas

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^Pakistan Observer is not widely ditributed respected newspaper and this news item in particular appears to be based on some tentative information filed by a reported who doesnt even understand what he is reporting. Doesnt make any sense at all.

Yes PIA is leasing aircrafts to get hajis from quetta to khi as 777 cannot be operated from quetta !

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^ Would leased aircraft transport pilgrims from Quetta to Karachi or fly them directly to Jeddah from Quetta ?

And, exactly for what reason PIA Boeing 777 aircraft cannot be used for Hajj flights from Quetta this year ?

As far as I know, PIA used Boeing 777 aircraft for Hajj flights from/to Quetta Airport in years 2008, 2009 and 2010, without any reports of problem.


December 12, 2008 - PIA Boeing 777 at Quetta International Airport after completing post-Hajj flight from Jeddah on December 12, 2008.

Abbas

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L-1011 tristar..??People are replacing their B747-400 and PIA will transport pliligrims on this old aircraft..Hatsoff to the administration.

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Could the issue be takeoff performance? Quetta would qualify as a hot AND high airfield

The A310, 772LR and 77W could carry full pax payload and takeoff in less than 10000ft on a ISA +15C day

The 772ER would have a takeoff roll closer to 11000ft. This could make it more vulnerable to small arms or rocket fire from the ground.

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Yes, that could be the reason.

Last year, Hajj was performed from November 14 to 18 and PIA started Hajj flights operation on October 11. First pre-Hajj flight from Quetta was operated on October 12 with Boeing 777 aircraft, according to 2010 PIA Hajj flights schedule.

The year 2011 Hajj is expected to fall between November 4 and 9, according to info on the web, which means PIA will start its pre-Hajj flights operation around October 1, 2011 i.e. about ten days earlier than last year.

According to info on the web, Quetta Airport located at elevation of 5267 feet (Above Mean Sea Level - AMSL) has 12,000 feet long runway making it the civilian airport with longest runway in Pakistan.

Actually Quetta Airport has two parallel runways i.e. 12,000 feet long Runway 13/31 and 12,000 feet long Runway 13R/31L which is used for military aircraft only.

And according to information on Bing Weather.

* Average temperature in month of September in Quetta is minimum 13° C and maximum 31° C.

* Average temperature in month of October in Quetta is minimum 7° C and maximum 25° C.

An airport located at an elevation of more than 5000 feet Above Mean Sea Level with temperature more than 26° C comes under Hot and High category, according to some sources.

Btw, if PIA decides to apply its logo on fuselage or tail markings on temporary basis for Hajj flights on leased TriStar or any of the other aircraft type listed in tender notice then it would make the leased aircraft in hybrid PIA livery a nice attraction for aviation spotters/photographers.

Abbas

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