PIA Plane seized in Malaysia lands in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: An aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), that was stopped by Malaysian authorities from flying to Islamabad at Kuala Lumpur International Airport over a legal dis-pute, reached the capital city on Friday night, after the issue was settled.
Sources said Boeing 777 took off from after it was released by Malaysian authorities as a local court set aside a previous decision, and issued orders in favour of the national carrier to release the plane. The plane, with registration number AP-BMH, was operated from Kuala Lumpur to Islamabad as a ferry flight with no passenger on board.
The court order said that the ex parte injunction order dated May 26, 2023 was set aside; and the originating summons dated May 24, 2023 was stuck out with no order as to costs.
The leasing company of the aircraft had approached the court claiming that PIA owed it $4.5 million.
The claim was rejected by the PIA, stating that it owned the aircraft and the leasing company only owned one of the mounted engines. The national carrier said the leasing company only owned one of the engines and it had already paid $1.8 million for it. –Agencies