PIA plane 'impounded' in Malaysia over $14m lease dispute

A Pakistan International Airlines plane has been held back by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the jet’s lease, the airline said on Friday, adding it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels. The Boeing 777 aircraft was seized after a court order, an airline spokesman said, and alternative arrangements were being made for passengers due to fly from Kuala Lumpur back to Pakistan. The case involved a $14m lease dispute, a PIA official said. “A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking a one-sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court,” a PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said. “We were told that the plane has been impounded on a court order,” Khan said later in a video statement. “PIA’s legal team will pursue it in the Malaysian court, and we hope that we will resolve this issue as soon as possible.” According to orders passed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Thursday, the plaintiff of the case is Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited and the matter pertains to two jets leased to PIA by Dublin-based AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft lessor, in 2015. They are part of a portfolio that AerCap sold to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd, an investment unit of NCB Capital, the brokerage arm of National Commercial Bank SJSC, in 2018.<br/>