LAHORE - The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has inducted 12th Boeing 777 aircraft into its fleet.

The aircraft has been taken on dry lease from Macquarie, an Ireland-based leasing company, for a period of six years. With the induction of Boeing 777-300, the PIA now has 12 Boeing 777 aircraft and a fleet strength of 32 aircraft, a spokesman for the airline said. He said that Boeing 777-300 had 442 seats and it would be made operational after completion of formalities.

Sharing his views on the induction of the aircraft, PIA CEO Nayyar Hayat said the airline would now be able to serve its passengers with more convenience flights and a wider network. The newly-inducted aircraft will be used on PIA’s international routes.

HAJ OPERATION

The PIA transported more than 4,200 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia through 13 flights in first four days of its pre-haj operation.

All pre-haj flights are departing on time from their stations in Pakistan -- Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot and Multan.

The first flight from Lahore to Madina carrying 392 pilgrims took off from Allama Iqbal airport on Thursday. The passengers of the flight were seen off by Mashhood Tajwar, public affairs general manager at the PIA; Asad Ghauri, district manager at the PIA Lahore and Tariq Majeed, airport manager. Hayat said that PIA had made special arrangements for the convenience of pilgrims at airports in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and deputed additional staff to assist them.