PIA Pakistan issues widebody dry-lease RFP

 PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l) is seeking to dry lease up to three widebody twin jet aircraft manufactured not before 2014 and each seating at least 280 passengers. The lease period will be for two to four years with delivery due before June 2024.

The recently released invitation to bid documentation is asking for sealed bids on a single stage two envelope basis from interested aircraft owners, operators, and lessors. The airline is asking for technical and financial and proposals, with the latter only opened if the technical proposal meets PIA's specifications.

In December 2022, ch-aviation reported that PIA wanted to acquire up to 12 aircraft to build up its operating fleet to 40 planes, the so-called "magic number" according to aviation minister Khawaja Saad Rafique. The airline is also expected to reactivate both of its stored B777-300(ER)s by the end of January.

PIA will assess each bidder on their financial strength, technical capabilities and past performance in aircraft leasing, taking into account whether the bidder is currently the owner, directly or indirectly, of the aircraft being tendered, and other details deemed relevant by the airline.

The documentation notes that the governing law of the lease agreement will be mutually agreed on by both parties but shall not conflict with Pakistani law. Any disputes between the parties shall be resolved under International Chamber of Commerce - Amicable Dispute Resolution (ICC ADR) rules. The successful lessor shall invoice PIA each month at least ten days before the start of each rent period with the airline then paying the monthly lease rental in advance by the due date.

"(The) lessor shall agree that so long as no event of default under the lease agreement has occurred and is continuing, neither lessor nor any other party claiming through lessor, shall take or permit to be taken any action contrary to the PIA’s right to quiet enjoyment of, the continuing possession, use and operation of the aircraft during the lease period," the invitation to bid documentation reads.

According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, PIA presently has 12 widebody aircraft comprising six B777-200(ER)s, two B777-200(LR)s, and four B777-300(ER)s. Aside from the pair of B777-300(ER)s now returning to service, only two B777-200(ER)s remain parked. The average age of PIA's widebody fleet is 16.97 years, with the youngest (a -300ER) 13.78 years old and the oldest (a -200ER) 19.01 years old. Only three of the widebody aircraft are leased. One is a B777-300(ER), AP-BMS (msn 36782), on lease from Macquarie AirFinance with a 2026 lease end date, while two B777-200(ER)s, AP-BMG (msn 32716) and AP-BMH (msn 32717) are leased from Peregrine Aviation with 2024 lease end dates.
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Bidders must submit their offers to PIA no later than 1500L (1000Z) on February 13, 2023. The opening and readout of the bids will follow at 1600L (1100Z) on the same day.