State Enterprises Minister Kabir Hashim recently said that four A330 airplanes of the SriLankan Airlines will be given to the Pakistan International Airways under a partial lease.

Accordingly, the crew and the planes will be leased and they will run under the PIA brand name, Hashim said at a recent press conference.

The first plane is expected to be handed over in the next month.

The government cancelled the order of one A350 Airbus after paying a fine of 15 million US Dollars, he added.

Meanwhile the Minister revealed that the government is conducting discussions with a Chinese firm to handover the management of Mattala International Airport.