Reporting snapshot · 10 October 2026. The lease is for two aircraft and is described by both carriers as a wet-lease (ACMI). PIA has not disclosed the monthly rate, the contract length or which two UK routes will be added. The transaction sits alongside earlier financing discussions with the US EXIM Bank and the 9 October UK–Pakistan Airbus/Rolls-Royce talks but does not depend on either.
What happened
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) signed an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) wet-lease agreement with Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways on Friday, 9 October 2026, for two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, Reuters reported via The Express Tribune. Norse Atlantic said it would begin flight operations for PIA in November, with the jets to operate long-haul services between Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
The Norwegian carrier operates a fleet of 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and said long-term ACMI deals help shield it from fluctuations in passenger demand and fuel prices. Norse Atlantic added that it is in talks with other airlines about ACMI contracts, and that in July it began a formal process to explore a sale or merger as it considers strategic options.
The agreement was confirmed separately by PIA Chief Executive Officer Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat at a signing ceremony, who said the UK was an important market and that the two Dreamliners would be the first 787 widebodies introduced into the Pakistani market, Geo News reported citing The News International. Hayat said the deal would increase capacity and offer passengers more travel options between Pakistan and the UK, and that the aircraft were expected to join PIA in November.
Norse Atlantic Chief Executive Officer Eivind Roald said the carrier had been redeploying capacity through new ACMI opportunities and was now implementing that strategy, The Express Tribune reported. Roald said the agreement would support PIA’s long-haul expansion and improve UK-Pakistan connectivity for the large Pakistani diaspora.
A wet-lease, not a purchase
The arrangement is an ACMI wet-lease, not an aircraft purchase or financing deal. Under ACMI, the lessor (Norse Atlantic) provides the aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance and charges PIA a fee, while PIA retains commercial control of the routes — pricing, ticketing and customer service. The model’s appeal for PIA is that it adds capacity without the upfront cost, debt or balance-sheet exposure of a purchase; for Norse Atlantic, ACMI revenue reduces its dependence on the low-cost transatlantic market it has been pulling back from.
The wet-lease also helps Norse Atlantic retain a key contract after India’s largest airline, IndiGo, said in July it would end its wet-lease arrangement with the Norwegian group. IndiGo had been one of Norse Atlantic’s largest ACMI customers. Norse Atlantic, faced with soaring jet fuel costs, has been reducing its exposure to low-cost transatlantic services and increasing its focus on ACMI, Reuters said via The Express Tribune.
Why this is a first for PIA
The 787-9 will be the first Dreamliner type to enter PIA’s fleet. PIA’s existing long-haul fleet centres on Boeing 777 widebodies — including grounded 777s that the airline has been trying to return to service with spare parts — and on a smaller narrow-body fleet of Airbus A320s. Boeing 777s are larger than 787-9s, but 787s are significantly more fuel-efficient on long-haul routes, which is where most Pakistan-UK services sit.
The Dreamliner deal follows PIA’s privatisation, which concluded in December 2025 when an Arif Habib-led consortium won a 75 per cent stake in the airline for Rs135 billion ($486 million), with management control transferred to the consortium in June 2026. The government subsequently clarified that it would neither purchase aircraft for the privatised airline nor provide a sovereign guarantee or taxpayer-funded loan for their acquisition, Geo News reported. The leasing partnership is consistent with that framework: PIA takes delivery risk on the route, Norse Atlantic takes aircraft and crew risk, and the transaction sits within the airline’s own commercial arrangements rather than any federal guarantee.
Why it matters
For PIA, the immediate significance is capacity. Pakistan’s diaspora in the United Kingdom is the carrier’s most important long-haul market, and adding two modern 787-9s from November should allow PIA to increase frequencies on existing Pakistan-UK routes or add new city pairs without the multi-year lead time of a purchase.
The deal also advances the fleet-modernisation plan PIA set out after privatisation. The airline has said it needs at least 25 to 30 aircraft to operate sustainably and is also returning some Boeing 777s to service. In September, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb asked the US Export-Import Bank for financing support for PIA Boeing 787 Dreamliner purchases, KhabarWire reported. That request remains at the framework-building stage and is separate from this ACMI deal.
The wider fleet track was reinforced on 9 October, when Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan met British High Commissioner Jane Marriott in Islamabad and discussed leasing and fleet-modernisation arrangements involving Airbus aircraft and Rolls-Royce engines, Geo News reported. The Norse Atlantic deal is consistent with that track but does not depend on it.
For Norse Atlantic, the agreement is a counterweight to the IndiGo exit and a step towards ACMI as a steadier revenue source than low-cost transatlantic flying. For Pakistan’s broader aviation market, two modern widebodies on UK routes increase seat capacity in a corridor where Pakistan-flag and Gulf-carrier competition is intense. The addition is incremental rather than transformative, but it is the first concrete, dated 787 deployment by a Pakistani carrier and the first time PIA has added widebody capacity through an ACMI partner rather than its own balance sheet.
What is still uncertain
- The contract terms — monthly ACMI rate, lease length, return conditions and any extension options — have not been disclosed. PIA and Norse Atlantic have said only that operations begin in November.
- Which two Pakistan-UK city pairs the 787-9s will operate is not yet public. London and Manchester are the obvious candidates; PIA has not confirmed them.
- Which two of Norse Atlantic’s 12 787s will be redeployed to PIA, and how the carrier’s wider fleet plan adjusts, is also undisclosed. Norse Atlantic is in talks with other airlines about ACMI contracts and in July began exploring a sale or merger, which adds uncertainty about the longer-term shape of its fleet.
- The earlier US EXIM financing request, the 9 October Airbus/Rolls-Royce talks and this ACMI deal are separate tracks. Whether PIA follows the ACMI route with a longer-term purchase — and what role the EXIM or UK partners play — will only become clearer after the November start of operations.
- The deal does not resolve PIA’s underlying fleet-renewal challenge: two leased 787-9s are an addition, not a replacement for the 777s. The 25–30-aircraft target remains the headline figure.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 10 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). The ACMI terms, the November start date, Norse Atlantic's 12-aircraft fleet, the IndiGo exit and the broader ACMI strategy are taken from the Reuters wire as carried by The Express Tribune. PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat's confirmation that the deal is the first 787 deployment in Pakistan, and the UK capacity rationale, come from Geo News citing The News International. Profit by Pakistan Today independently confirms the ACMI arrangement and identifies it as the first 787-9 introduction in Pakistan's aviation industry. The 9 October Airbus/Rolls-Royce talks and the government's clarification on sovereign guarantees come from Geo News citing the commerce ministry.
- Primary source — The Express Tribune (Reuters): "Norse Atlantic lands lease deal with PIA"Published 9 October 2026 · The ACMI agreement, the November start, the 12-aircraft fleet context, the IndiGo exit, Norse Atlantic's ACMI strategy, and the July sale-or-merger exploration.
- Independent source — Geo News (Reuters / The News International): "PIA set to add two Dreamliners to aircraft fleet in November"Published 10 October 2026 · PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat's confirmation, the first-Dreamliner-in-Pakistan framing, and the link to the Airbus/Rolls-Royce talks.
- Independent source — Profit by Pakistan Today: "PIA signs lease deal with Norse Atlantic for two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners for UK flights"Published 10 October 2026 · Independently confirms the ACMI arrangement, the November start, and the first-787-9 framing.
- Context — Geo News: "Pakistan eyes Airbus planes, Rolls-Royce engines for privatised PIA"Published 9 October 2026 · The Commerce Minister–British High Commissioner meeting, the December 2025 privatisation, and the government's clarification on sovereign guarantees.
- Context — KhabarWire: "Pakistan seeks US EXIM financing for PIA Boeing jets, refineries and Reko Diq"Published 24 September 2026 · Earlier EXIM request for PIA Boeing 787 financing, a separate track from this ACMI deal.
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