14 February 2004	Saturday	22 Zilhaj 1424

RAWALPINDI, Feb 13: The Pakistan International Airline (PIA) will be making its longest non-stop flight when its second Boeing 777-240 ER arrives here from Seattle on Saturday.

The non-commercial flight would reach here at 11:55pm after flying non-stop for 14 hours and 45 minutes. The jet has a maximum range of approximately 11,050kms or 5,965 nautical miles.

The plane has been assigned tail number AP-BGK by the Civil Aviation Authority. The first of the eight B-777s being acquired by PIA had reached here on January 31.

The third aircraft would join the national carrier's fleet sometime in March. These three jets are of the 777-240 ER configuration, while another couple of jets scheduled to be joining PIA in 2006 would be 777-200 LR. PIA would be their launch operator.

The last three 777's would take up PIA colours in 2008 and would be of 777-340 ER series. The eight Boeing jets all powered by General Electric GE 90- 94-B engines have been purchased under a $1.5 billion deal, 85 per cent of which had been financed by the United States Export- Import Bank.

Talking Dawn, PIA general manager Imran Gardezi said these jets had been acquired under the marketing plan, which envisaged point-to-point non-stop service and addition of new destinations.

He said the airline, after the induction of the first three B-777s by March, plans to start flying to Houston. The B-777 jets, he said, were purchased after taking into consideration a large number of factors including marketing, passenger comfort, operational characteristics, product support, fuel efficiency, lowering of maintenance costs, revenue generation and fleet replacement plan.