Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Friday claimed to have regained its domestic flights market by 22 percent and international sector by three percent during current year. According to details, PIA Premier has played a key role in regaining its market share both internationally as well as domestically, which increased by 22 percent on domestic flights and three percent on international sectors during the current year.
In 2016, around one million additional passengers travelled on PIA as compared to the previous year and the airline had received excellent feedback on all aspects of service of PIA Premier, PIA spokesman said. He further said the brand new A-330 which PIA acquired in August that year for starting PIA Premier, was obtained in a transparent manner, strictly in accordance with PPRA rules, on market price and had played an important role in PIA's regaining passenger confidence and in improving its brand image.
He explained that it was a new service and like any new business venture, it would take time to become profitable. "Obtaining the new aircraft on wet lease was a compulsion for PIA due to lack of trained pilots and crew. With the passage of time, as airline own personnel gets trained this plane would be converted to dry lease and more similar aircraft would also be acquired on dry lease," he added. A-330 was a commercially successful wide body aircraft operated by various five-star and four-star airlines including Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, he maintained.