The first stage bids invited by Pakistan International Airlines for dry lease of four Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be opened at the airline's head office here on July 16. The lease period would be three years. These aircraft will be inducted in PIA's depleted fleet by September to overcome chronic shortage of aircraft to improve its operational capacity.
According to bidding documents only manufacturers, operators, leasing companies, bona fide agents and brokers in leasing of aircraft business having ownership interest in the aircraft were qualified to apply.
Although A-320 could be an alternate aircraft to Boeing 737-800, its manufacturers, Airbus Industrie were not invited to participate in the bidding on the plea that conversion of crew would cost less as PIA already has aircraft belonging to the same family, ie Boeing 737-200 and Boeing 737-300 in addition to engineering facilities which would be readily available at PIA's engineering base for Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737. This series followed the 737 Classic (-300/-400/-500) series, which began production in the 1980s. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners. Produced since 1996 by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the 737NG is sold in four sizes seating typically 110 to 210 passengers.
A total of 4,015, 737NG aircraft have been delivered by April 2012, with more than 6,000 ordered. Its primary competition is with the Airbus A320 family. Upgraded and re-engined models in development as the 737 MAX series will eventually supplant the 737NG.
The 737-800 is a stretched version of the 737-700, and replaces the 737-400. It also filled the gap left by the decision to discontinue the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90 following Boeing's merger with McDonnell Douglas. The -800 was launched by Hapag-Lloyd Flug (now TUIfly) in 1994 and entered service in 1998. The 737-800 seats 162 passengers in a two-class layout, or 189 in one class, and competes with the A320. For many airlines in the U.S., the 737-800 replaced aging Boeing 727-200 trijets.
Prompted by the development of the Airbus A320, which incorporated ground-breaking technologies such as fly-by-wire and side-stick controls, in 1991 Boeing initiated development of an updated series of aircraft. After working with potential customers, the 737 Next Generation (NG) program was announced on November 17, 1993. The 737NG encompasses the -600, -700, -800 and -900 variants, and is to date the most significant upgrade of the airframe. The performance of the 737NG is essentially that of a new airplane, but important commonality is retained from previous 737 generations.
The bidders have been given the choice to submit bids for any number of aircraft in the tendering process which would be "Two stages Two Envelop mode". In the first stage the bid shall comprise a single package containing two separate envelops, each containing separately the "financial proposal" and the "technical proposal".
Time and date for the submission of second stage bid will be intimated to short listed bidders separately.
Initially only the envelop marked technical proposal shall be opened and discussed with the bidders with reference to the procuring agency's technical requirements.
In the second stage, after agreement between the procuring agency and the bidder on the technical requirements, bidders who are willing to conform to the revised technical specifications or whose bids have not already been rejected will submit a revised technical proposal and a supplementary financial proposal, according to the technical requirements.
The procuring agency shall evaluate the whole proposal in accordance with the evaluation criteria and the bid found to be the lowest evaluated bid shall be accepted.
PIA will examine the second stage bids to determine whether they are complete and are generally in order. The airline may, at its discretion, ask the bidder for a clarification of its bids. The request for clarification and the response shall be in writing, and no charge in the price or substance of the bid shall be sought, offered or permitted.
PIA may waive any minor informality, non-conformity or irregularity in a bid that does not constitute a material deviation, and that does not prejudice or affect the relative ranking of any bidder as a result of the technical and financial evaluation.
Prior to the detailed evaluation, PIA will determine whether each bid is of acceptable quality, is complete, is substantially responsive to the bidding documents and has properly incorporated the desired modifications. For purposes of this determination, a substantially responsive bid is one that conforms to all the terms and conditions of the bidding documents without material deviations, objections, conditionalties or reservations.
In the special conditions of contract following details of PIA's requirements have been given. For the purpose of lease agreement between PIA and the lesser, they will serve as binding special conditions of the agreement.
PIA can terminate the contract by giving six month's notice in advance, after 18 months of leased period. The delivery of aircraft shall take place at mutually agreed location. The cost of ferrying the aircraft to Pakistan shall be borne by the lesser. The aircraft will be re-delivered to lesser at Karachi and all cost related to ferry out of aircraft from Karachi would be the responsibility of lesser. PIA shall convert the aircraft in its livery at its own cost and return the aircraft in PIA's livery.