PIA to repaint & refurbish retired Boeing 720Bs

[Abbas Ali]

In today's (September 7, 2006) newspaper:


On the Net: PIA

[Abbas Ali]

PIA Planetarium - Karachi

PIA Boeing 720-047B at Planetarium in Karachi - Copyright Ajaz Karim

Aircraft Type: Boeing 720-047B (c/n 18749, l/n 374)
Year of Make: 1964
Registration: AP-AXM
Delivery to PIA: Delivered to PIA in September 1974. (Purchased from Western Airlines)
Retirement: Retired in 1986.

PIA Planetarium - Lahore

PIA Boeing 720-047B at Planetarium in Lahore - Copyright Abbas Ali

Aircraft Type: Boeing 720-047B (c/n 18818, l/n 390)
Year of Make: 1964
Registration: AP-AXL
Delivery to PIA: Delivered to PIA in August 1974. (Purchased from Western Airlines)
Retirement: Retired in 1986.

[Abbas Ali]

Are they going to paint these two Boeing 720Bs in new livery? I hope they consider painting them in old livery of 1970s or 1980s green & gold because that’s when these two Boeing 720Bs were in service with PIA.

AP-AXM also appears in some shots of ‘LUX – 50 years in Pakistan’ TV commercial aired on Pakistani channels these days. On GEO TV they showed a program on how this commercial was made and there they showed white paint applied on aircraft’s nose section covering letters ‘XM’.

[Moin]

But they were already in the midst of painting the a/c at KHI when I saw it about 4 months ago. It was all in grey primer and the painters were sleeping on the wings and in front of the doors when I went there at around 2am. I was attending a wedding at a lawn next door and some friends and I walked over to see it and there was painters all over the a/c. They told me they were painting it in the new colors. What happened?

It would be so much better of they would paint these a/c in the 60's delivery colors instead of the new scheme. They should create the retro image and not apply this modern scheme to an a/c of this vintage.

[samee380]

thats nice i would like each of the aircrafts to have the province tail where they are based at .

[SaadSaeed]

I vote retro! But i also wish they do more to preserve these and keep them clean. Look at AXL, it looks beige instead of white. That prehistoric stair case also belongs to the aircraft or not? Perhaps they should spare real stair masters. Inshallah next time i go to PK i will visit the planetarium.

[samee380]

when you visit can you go into the aircraft? also whereabouts is it in lahore?
i would like to visit one time. also are they anymore PIA's in lahore which have been grounded and can be viewed by the public?

[Abbas Ali]

Perhaps they should spare real stair masters.

Now, they do have real passenger stair trucks at both planetariums.

when you visit can you go into the aircraft?

Yes, you can see aircraft’s cabin, normally it’s open for the public during the planetarium visit hours. In Lahore, permission is required from planetarium management for visit to aircraft’s cockpit.

Flight deck of retired Boeing 720-047B (AP-AXL) on display at planetarium in Lahore - Copyright Abbas Ali

also whereabouts is it in lahore?

Location of both planetariums mentioned in PIA ad. The Boeing 720B in Lahore is on display at Old University Ground near city's historic landmark Chowburji.

also are they anymore PIA's in lahore which have been grounded and can be viewed by the public?

It's the only PIA aircraft on display in Lahore.

Few years ago, AP-AXL in Lahore was painted again in 1990s livery and the painter painted his company’s name and contact details near the bottom of aircraft’s tail. It looked very odd, I hope PIA don’t let something like this happen again to any of the two Boeing 720Bs.

Technically, 1960s livery cannot be applied on any of these two Boeing 720Bs because both of them were acquired by PIA in 1974. The two aircraft started their service with PIA sporting airline’s early 1970s livery as seen in following photo:

AP-AXL photographed by Ray at London-Heathrow Airport on November 10, 1974. Photo taken just two months after the aircraft was purchased by PIA from Western Airlines of USA - Copyright Ray Pettit

The two Boeing 720Bs were sporting 1980s green & gold livery at the time of their retirement in 1986. Another point I would like to add is that AP-AXL was the last Boeing 720B to operate scheduled passenger flight for PIA.


AP-AXM photographed at Karachi Airport in December 1984, less than two years before its retirement in 1986 - Abbas Ali Collection

So, personally, I would like to see the two Boeing 720Bs painted in any of the two liveries, 1970s or 1980s green & gold, shown in above two photos.

[Charliedelta11]

i know..i saw it a few days back...and they've got the olive green stripe and the beige colour on the aircraft in khi...its pretty close to where i live...i vote for the 60's livery too...people should know what PIA's mainstay jet was like during PIA's prime...

[samee380]

i know..i saw it a few days back...and they've got the olive green stripe and the beige colour on the aircraft in khi...its pretty close to where i live...i vote for the 60's livery too...people should know what PIA's mainstay jet was like during PIA's prime...

so its not painted in a province tail? any photos of the new painted?

[Moin]

Its should definately be painted in the retro colors, but these idiots don't realise the significance of that. they just think 'Jahaaz ko bilkul naya lagna chahye'.

Maybe I can send over my denter/painter to work on one of these. After all if he can restore 60's American cars, whats a Boeing???

[ConnieMan]

This is very interesteing news on one end and sad on other end, As many who realise the significance of these aircrafts voted there favors in 70s or 80s liveries and my vote is same too but now sad part is why can't PIA think the same too, by no means these nostelgic aircrafts should be painted in new livery, they would look obsured! and it will take away there importance and significance.

I hope many headhoncho's in PIA would be surfing this site, least they can see and then realise what people want and how certian things should be kept.

I would really like to see 80s greena nd gold livery on both of these birds, they will look stunning in that livery for sure.

[PK777]

As we are on the topic of aircraft displays, what ever happened to that huge EK A380 in Clifton?

[nutsforplanes]

Gee! For a second I thought PIA were going to refurbish them to make them airworthy

[SalamPaks]

Gee! For a second I thought PIA were going to refurbish them to make them airworthy

I had a bad feeling about that too. They could have added them to the Express fleet