The last aircraft operating for Pakistan’s once second largest airline Shaheen Air International departed from Lahore. Airbus A330-203 registration AP-BMI departed Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport as NL3 at 8.34 in the morning on 6 October. The plane landed at the Tarbes–Lourdes–Pyrénées Airport also known as Aéroport de Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (LDE) at 11.31 PM. Shaheen’s Airbus A319s, as well as some other aircraft, were also sent to this South of France airport where lessors have parked the planes.
This Airbus A330 was built in 2006 and was delivered to KLM in February 2007. It was delivered to Shaheen in March 2016 and was the backbone of Shaheen’s flight operation to Guangzhou and Saudi Arabia. It was leased from Air Castle and the same lessor has taken it back to France.
With this, the Shaheen fleet is reduced from 17 to 0 in a matter of just a few months. The airline headquarter is still open and the impression is of business as usual. But its 4000 plus employees face an uncertain future as they brace for daily rumours and gossips about deals. The owners’ have departed and their residence behind the head office vacant and all their belongings have been shifted abroad.