PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) has resolved to return all ATR72-500s to their lessor earlier than stipulated due to high lease rates and a lack of prospects for the aircraft's utilisation in the current market environment, The Express Tribune has reported.

"The bleeding stopped and an expensive deal of the past has been terminated. This is yet another course correction by the current PIA administration," the carrier said in a statement.

Four of the five aircraft are owned by ABRIC Leasing and are managed by ACIA Aero, the ch-aviation fleets ownership module shows. They were delivered to PIA in 2015, transferred from UTair-Ukraine (Kyiv Boryspil).

The first of the subfleet, AP-BKY (msn 994), was ferried from Karachi International via Muscat, Riyadh, Juba, and Lubumbashi to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo over the course of December 12-13, 2020. A further three ATR - Avions de Transport Régional units are due to be returned by the end of the year, the airline claimed. The fifth turboprop, AP-BKW (msn 1036), was severely damaged during a ground collision at Karachi airport in November 2018.

The four airworthy ATR72-500s have been deployed sporadically since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. While a lack of demand has been a problem, PIA said the decision to return the ATRs earlier than planned was largely caused by their expensive lease rates. ARY News said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched an investigation into the decision to lease the aircraft as it has reportedly caused over PKR7 billion Pakistani rupees (USD43.7 million) in losses to the carrier.

Chief Executive Arshad Malik said PIA was able to return the aircraft earlier than planned thanks to the impact of COVID-19 and lessor's increased flexibility. He added that PIA would continue to operate five ATR42-500s.

In an emailed statement to ch-aviation, ABRIC said it recognised that PIA, like most of the world’s airlines, has suffered from the impact of COVID. As such, in the spirit of partnership and support for a "key customer", ABRIC agreed to accept the early return of one ATR72-500 but only as long as the Pakistani carrier met certain unspecified conditions. It highlighted that no further aircraft would be returned to the lessor prior to the natural expiry of their leases.

"These leases were entered into in 2015 and still have a significant portion of the lease term remaining," the lessor added.