THE PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES (PIA) BOEING 777 LONGER RANGE AIRCRAFT HAS LANDED AT THE ISLAMABAD AIRPORT ON A DIRECT FLIGHT FROM NEW YORK IN ONE CLEAN HOP. THE PIA THUS ACHIEVED ANOTHER LANDMARK IN ITS LONG HISTORY, PIA CHAIRMAN TARIQ KIRMANI SAID. IT WAS THE SAME AIRCRAFT THAT FLEW NON-STOP FORM HONG KONG TO LONDON, THE LONG WAY, FOR TWO DAYS, COVERING 11,664 NAUTICAL MILES WITHOUT STOPPING IN 22 HOURS AND 43 MINUTES. AFTER THIS FEAT, THE AIRCRAFT WAS NAMED THE 'WORLDLINER'. THIS SAME AIRCRAFT IS NOW OWNED BY THE PIA AS PART OF ITS FLEET. KIRMANI, ALONG WITH BOEINGS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT SCOTT CARSON, ACCOMPANIED THE DELIVERY OF THE AIRPLANE ALL THE WAY FROM SEATTLE. KIRMANI TOLD THE REPORTERS THAT THE NEW BOEING 777 LRS WAS A CONTINUATION OF PIAS STRATEGY TO EXPAND ITS NETWORK, FREQUENCIES TO STATION WITHIN ITS NETWORK AND ITS FLEET. 'THIS WILL RESULT NOT ONLY IN THE INCREASE OF ITS MARKET SHARE AND SEAT FACTOR BUT WOULD ALSO HELP REDUCE THE AGE OF THE PIA FLEET FROM ITS CURRENT 21 YEARS TO A BARE NINE YEARS, WHEN ITS FLEET EXPANSION PLAN COMES TO AN END IN A FEW YEARS TIME.' KIRMANI SAID THAT BESIDES THE COMBINATION OF EIGHT LRS AND ERS ALREADY BOUGHT, FOUR MORE PLANES WOULD BE ADDED, OF WHICH THE LEASE-DEAL OF ONE IS ALREADY FIRMED UP. HE ADDED THAT THE PIA IS FOCUSING ON THE CONVENIENCE AND COMFORT OF ITS PASSENGERS AND THAT THERE IN NO QUESTION OF COMPROMISE ON SAFETY MATTES. KIRMANI SAID THAT PIA WAS AWARE OF THE COMPETITION AND WOULD NOT LOSE ITS COMPETITIVENESS IN THE MARKET PLACE. 'WE ARE IN COMPETITION WITH OTHER AIRLINES SO WE NEED TO KEEP OUR FARES, ACCORDING TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET.' THE PIA CHIEF SAID THAT THE PERCENTAGE OF COMPLAINTS HAD GONE DOWN DRASTICALLY, WHILE THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINT CARDS RECEIVED HAS GONE UP FROM ONLY 200 TO NEARLY 1,800 COMMENT CARDS PER WEEK. CARSON SAID ON THE OCCASION THAT SOON PIAS PRECISION ENGINEERING COMPLEX WOULD BE COLLABORATING WITH THE BOEING IN THE MAKING OF CERTAIN SPARES.
