New Delhi, Oct 12: In a deal unheard of in aviation history Pakistan's national airline has pledged its entire fleet in the name of a "fake off-shore company" to acquire eight Boeing-777 aircraft, media reports said. The entire fleet was pledged by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) following a directive by the US export-import bank, US-based 'South Asia Tribune' web magazine reported.

To comply with the Exim Bank condition, "PIA has registered its entire fleet in the name of a fake off-shore company -- fly PIA Limited -- in Cayman Islands to pledge its assets for use as collateral to buy three B777-2er to be delivered in the first quarter of 2004," it reported. According to the PIA website, the Pakistani carrier at the moment has 44 aircraft, including eight airbus 300-b4, six B747-300, four B747-200, six A310 and seven B737-300.

The registration of these aircraft in the Cayman Island- based company also puts a question mark on their operations in the Pakistani skies as the PIA can "no longer claim to be the national flag carrier".

Bureau Report