PIA flight to London diverted with SriLankan operating crew
View(s):A Pakistan International Airlines flight, using a plane wet-leased from SriLankan Airlines, was on Tuesday ordered to be diverted by British authorities.
PK757, an A330-300 aircraft wet-leased from SriLankan Airlines with a SriLankan Airlines operating crew, was en route from Lahore, Pakistan to London Heathrow, when it received a request from authorities in London to divert to Stansted Airport due to unspecified information with regard to one passenger.
“The flight was escorted into Stansted by British Royal Air Force aircraft and landed at 1456 hours without incident. The aircraft was met by law enforcement authorities and the passenger was off-loaded and taken into custody,” Sri Lanka’s national carrier said in a media statement issued in Colombo.
Exercising an abundance of caution in line with SriLankan Airlines’ high standards of safety and security, the Captain requested that a baggage ID check be carried out before the aircraft was to be ferried back to London Heathrow. Due to the London Heathrow curfew and crew time limitation regulations, it was not possible for the aircraft to be ferried to London Heathrow on the same day. It was therefore decided to ferry the aircraft to London Heathrow on the morning of the following day February 8. The passengers were transported to London by road transportation.
The statement made no mention of the dispute the national carrier is having with PIA over delayed payments. The Business Times last week reported that after five months of the A 330 Aircraft wet lease to PIA, Sri Lankan Airlines is being pushed to a precarious situation as a result of PIA’s insistence to reduce the lease payment rate or else take back the A 330 already leased out to them in August last year. SriLankan Airlines has declined to comment on this issue.