Pakistan International Airlines is not simply adding two Boeing 787-9s for its UK services. It is buying time.
The airline’s planned wet lease from Norse Atlantic gives it access to aircraft, pilots, cabin crew, maintenance support and insurance without waiting for its own widebody fleet plan to catch up. For a carrier trying to restore or protect long-haul services, that can be the difference between maintaining a presence in a key market and leaving it to competitors.
A wet lease is commonly known as ACMI, short for aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance. The airline supplying the aircraft remains responsible for operating it safely. The airline selling the seats manages the commercial side of the journey, including schedules, fares, ground handling, catering and passenger service.
A traveller may buy a PIA ticket but board an aircraft operated by another airline, with a different cabin layout, crew uniform and service style. The arrangement is legitimate, but the operating carrier must be disclosed clearly.
The speed is attraction for PIA. A long-haul service cannot be restored simply because an airline wants to fly it. It needs aircraft, trained crews, maintenance arrangements, spare parts, insurance, financing, regulatory approvals, airport slots and enough backup capacity to recover when something goes wrong. A wet lease packages much of that operational burden into a single agreement.
It is a practical answer when an airline has a gap between ambition and available capacity. The 787-9 is especially useful for a UK operation because it offers long range and a relatively modern widebody platform. But the deal should not be mistaken for a permanent fleet strategy. Wet leasing is usually more expensive than operating an aircraft owned or dry leased by the airline itself. The provider must recover the cost of the aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance, administration, repositioning and its own commercial margin.
That makes ACMI capacity a bridge. It is sensible when the alternative is cancelling flights, losing a high value route, surrendering airport access or disappointing customers during a fleet shortage. It is less attractive as the normal way to operate a stable network over many years.
Wet leasing can become a survival tool. Airlines use it when aircraft deliveries are delayed, engines require unexpected removals, maintenance takes longer than planned, crews are short, regulators impose restrictions or seasonal demand rises faster than the fleet. It allows the airline to keep selling flights while the deeper problem is addressed.
But it can also mask that deeper problem. An airline that relies repeatedly on wet-leased capacity for its core routes may be carrying an unresolved weakness. Its fleet may be too small, its maintenance planning may be fragile, its balance sheet may not support fleet renewal, or its schedule may be more ambitious than its operational resources allow.
PIA’s arrangement is therefore a test of what comes next. If the lease gives the airline time to stabilise finances, rebuild its own long-haul capability, train crews and establish a credible fleet plan, it can be a useful recovery measure. If it becomes an open-ended substitute for fleet renewal, the cost and lack of control will become harder to sustain.
The most sensible use is targeted and temporary. It can cover aircraft grounded for engine inspections, protect peak international schedules, support a fleet transition, test a seasonal long-haul route or prevent a carrier from losing commercially important slots.
PIA’s 787 deal is not about the glamour of flying a new widebody. It is about preserving options. In aviation, the airline that cannot field its own aircraft on time may still need a way to remain visible in a market. Wet leasing provides that option, but it is valuable precisely because it is not meant to last forever.