Adil Najam
No, these are not the pictures of the planes that will replace the old PIA Fokkers. These are pictures of the new luxury jets that the government of Sindh is buying for its ‘offiical’ use!
It was just a week ago that a PIA Fokker aircraft crashed killing all 45 people on board. It was wisely, but belatedly, decided that the Fokker airplans would no longer be used for passenger traffic.
You would expect that the priority now would be to replace the old Fokkers as soon as possible. You would be wrong.
As it turns out, the priority seems to be to continue the luxury jet buying binge for ‘VIP’ government officials. Super expensive cars and airplanes seems to be the ‘in thing’ on the wish list of government officials, and this time it is the Sindh government that wants to get rockstar treatment for its travel. According to The News (20 July, 2006):
Bombardier Aerospace on Wednesday announced from London that the Sindh government has signed a contract to acquire a new Bombardier Learjet 45 XR super-light business jet… The Sindh government’s new Learjet 45 XR aircraft will be based in Karachi, at the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, and used to provide logistics support and transportation of the government delegations. The high-performance aircraft is scheduled for delivery in late 2006. A Sindh government spokesman said that we are impressed with the flexibility and performance offered by the Learjet 45 XR aircraft… which will be configured to carry maximum of nine passengers, makes it perfectly suited to varied missions.
Of course, the news report did not mention that Learjet is the preferred luxury jet of the super-rich and Hollywood types, and the Learjet 45XR is a top of the line 
‘celebrity’ plane. The Bombardier LearJet line is marketed as a luxury line. For example, specifically, on the 45XR, Bombardier says:
The Bombardier Learjet 45 XR aircraft offers everything that is ground breaking about the Bombardier Learjet 45 – and more. Responding to ever-evolving corporate needs, this super-light jet delivers an impressive list of enhancements, such as increased range with more passengers, shorter takeoff distances in hot conditions and at high altitudes, faster time-to-climb and faster cruise speeds… The Bombardier Learjet 45 XR cabin has 410 cubic feet (11.6 m3) of volume and 19.75 ft (6.02 m) of length, making it particularly spacious. This translates into more head, shoulder and leg room and an unprecedented level of comfort for eight passengers.
By the way, in case you were wondering, the Bombardier website tells us that you can buy used planes too… but, of course, that would not befit the government of Sindh and its VIPs. The people of Pakistan, and of Sindh, may be poor but at least they have the satisfaction of knowing that their ‘VIPs’ travel in style!
I’m not sure if the $50,000,000 is the actual price paid, as opposed to a “list price”. However, I’m not so opposed to this at all. I’ve been in the airline industry for years. Part of my work has me dealing with PIA, and their local passenger & cargo staff. I’ve been hearing my friends at PK getting stressed for decades (going back to Zia’s days in fact), everytime one of these VIP’s or heads of state want to travel. The result tends to be lost aircraft for PIA, which screws up passenger schedules, cargo schedules, causes lost revenue and all kinds of other problems.
Personally I think the central government should also invest in one or two Head of State configuration aircraft for the use of the PM, President, Foreign Minster, etc. This way PIA does not lose revenue every time someone important needs to travel.
Also, every time even a lowly MP wants to fly, he has the power to command as many seats on a PIA aircraft as he wants. Perhaps this way they’ll be forced to use state assets, and reduce their entourages.
This is a $50,000,000 plane or in Pak Rupees PRP 3,000,000,000.
This is actually their top of the line plane this is what billionaires (Larry Ellison, Warren Buffet) fly in.
This is insane government waste…I am a big supporter of Musharaf but the more I hear about this I am really starting to wonder.
Atleast it’d save the poor masses from spending hours on the roads when the traffic gets blocked so the highnesses can go from point A to point B in tranquility.
I am flabbergasted, only! Matlaab the concept of ‘palkies’ that we were taught in our juniour years, has still havent left :S This sucks!
Our trade deficit is increasing every year and we have started spending more on importing luxury cars and “fancy planes” from Tax Payers money !!!