KARACHI: Two aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) acquired through the wet lease program arrived in Karachi on Tuesday.

Both aircraft have been acquired through Turkish Airlines and the agreement entails the use of aircraft as well as provision of pilots and cabin crew, along with maintenance and insurance facilities. This is in contrast with the dry lease program in which only aircraft are provided.

Turkey had agreed to provide four Boeing 737-800 (180-seater) aircraft to the PIA under the program with the management of the national flag carrier aiming at a turnaround through acquisition of planes on dry and wet leases.

Turkish Airline will provide Pakistan with all four aircraft by the end of this year.

Also read: PIA to be split into two, Gulf airlines may buy core business

A spokesperson for Managing Director PIA Shahnawaz Rehman said the 737-800 (180-seater) aircraft are fuel efficient, adding that the planes would be assigned both domestic and international routes.

The spokesperson added that the induction of these planes in the fleet would help increase overall revenues.

The arrival of the two aircraft comes days after Pakistan’s privatisation czar Mohammad Zubair told Reuters in an interview that Pakistan was planning to split PIA into two companies and sell control of the core business to a global airline over the next 18 months.

The cash-strapped airline has some 17,000 employees but just 36 aircraft — and 10 of them are grounded due to a lack of spare parts.