Delivery of Dry Leased Airbus A320s to PIA to Begin in June

[Abbas Ali]

According to statement of Chairman PIA on following link, the dry leased PIA Airbus A320 will be configured to carry 146 passengers.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1121886/pia-gets-airbus-a-320

Probably the A320 will be configured to carry 126 Economy Class and 20 Business Class passengers.

Abbas

[Moin]

20 business class seats per A320 is way too much. From the pics I have seen, the A320 has 8 business seats in the forward cabin.

[Abbas Ali]

Newer A320s in Air India fleet have 120 Economy Class and 20 Business Class seats.

Info source: http://www.airindia.in/airbus-320-new.htm

Btw, second dry leased PIA A320 (AP-BLB) also has begun operating airline's scheduled passenger flights.

http://www.flightradar24.com/data/airplanes/ap-blb

Abbas

[muneebhyder]

Air India flights also have longer domestic stage lengths potentially warranting a business class product. I think an all Economy domestic product (aside from domestic 777/310 service) is required.

[Shaheer]

Note difference in shape/position of star & crescent on engine covers of first two dry leased PIA A320s.


Star & crescent on engine cover of first dry leased A320.


Star & crescent on engine cover of second dry leased A320.

Abbas

it appears, the position of moon & crescent is fixed on the first A320 as well

Looks good now

[GEnx]

Please someone tell me why the wing root fairing is still grey.?
These are looking like conformal fuel tanks like those on F-16 Block 52s
Will they paint it in proper colour? or is this another stupid addition to the livery..?

[ammad]

Thanks Shaheer for the update.

At this point of time what matter most is Airworthy Aircraft by itself, Frills like angle of crescent, coloring scheme seldom matter.

[haroon_ek]

Thanks Shaheer for the update.

At this point of time what matter most is Airworthy Aircraft by itself, Frills like angle of crescent, coloring scheme seldom matter.

Ammad is right. With current condition of PIA, it is 'ghaneemat' to have A320s in the fleet.

However, to make a point, everyone noticed the crescent and star on the engines but no one noticed the crescent and star on the tail. Isn't it improperly painted slightly behind the normal position.

[Abbas Ali]

AP-BLC at Karachi Airport on July 7, 2014.

Photo link: https://flic.kr/p/oeYrhe

Abbas

[Shaheer]

Thanks Shaheer for the update.

At this point of time what matter most is Airworthy Aircraft by itself, Frills like angle of crescent, coloring scheme seldom matter.

I partially agree with you; airworthiness matters the most but we should not downplay the livery & logo in a commercial airline business

[faiq]

Five Boeing 777-300 are expected to be delivered from 2015. Any one can tell the months in which they would be delivered.

[mac777]

good to see A320 finally joining the fleet.
a few observations/questions:
-the 2 a320 has not really increased the fleet strength with the retirement of b737-300 and non-renewal of wet lease.could they have waited a bit more before retiring the 737?
a320 offers upto 180 seats.does anyone from inside has info about business class demand warranting 20 business class seats? or is just to carry politicians and high ranking officials?even etihad has only 12 J seats.
-will it be proper business class seats or as some airlines only block the middle seat?
-air asia offers "hot seats"-slightly more legroom, located at the front and near the emergency exits for a premium.
this flip flop policy was also seen in the case of a310.
IMHO they should have kept an all economy configuration and apply business class seats for later deliveries with only 8-12 business class seats.
can the a320 with 146 seats fly to europe eg frankfurt and milan?
sorry for my ignorance: is there a need for a either one of the cockpit crew to be experienced with the a320? or it doesnt matter as long as they have flown airbus in the past?

[Moin]

The 2 A320's currently in service with PIA have 8 business class seats. I have seen the pics. Cabin and galley partitions have also been added.

Qatar, Etihad and Gulf Air both fly their A320's in 2 class configuration to Europe. GF was only recently using them on the BAH-LHR route.

[mac777]

8 business class seats for the a320 is reasonable.

[TAILWIND]

sorry for my ignorance: is there a need for a either one of the cockpit crew to be experienced with the a320? or it doesnt matter as long as they have flown airbus in the past?

The both the crew members have to be type rated on the type of aircraft they are assigned, no matter how experienced one is on other Airbus aircraft. yes there is a Cross Crew Qualification regime for airbus FBW aircraft, wherein the crew of single aisle (320 family) and long range (330/340 family) types get cross qualified. But that too is airlines specific and has some conditions.