PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) Chief Executive Officer, Bernd Hildenbrand, was forced to delay his trip home to Germany for Christmas over questions about the sale of an A310 and its involvement in a film about an Israeli hostage situation. The board decided to ask Hildenbrand to remain in Pakistan after the government raised concerns over the sale of state property at a low price and without prior approval.
AP-BEQ (msn 656) has apparently been sold to a German museum for EUR47,500 (USD50,000). Before reaching its final destination, the A310-300 was leased to a British production company for use in a film about the Israeli military operation to free over 100 passengers held hostage on Air France flight AF139 in Entebbe in 1976. The government of Pakistan believes the move could have political and religious implications. Pakistan currently has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
The decision to detain Hildenbrand follows the meeting of a special committee of the Pakistani Senate in early December to discuss the operations of PIA. Among their concerns were losses of PKR14 billion (USD134 million) in 2015, outstanding payments to Pakistan State Oil and the Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) leading to flight delays, and the irregular loan and sale of AP-BEQ. The aircraft was purchased by a German museum after PIA put all of its A310s up for sale by tender on August 1, 2016. The aircraft in question was chartered for the filming of "Entebbe".
Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows AP-BEQ was ferried from Karachi International to Malta International on November 25, 2016. It remained in Malta, where filming for the movie is still underway, until December 5 when it was ferried to Leipzig/Halle. The aircraft had carried out its last commercial flight on October 18, 2016, operating as PK732 from Jeddah International to Karachi International.
