A Boeing 777 aircraft operated by the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was impounded in Malaysia over unpaid dues, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Pakistani media reported on Wednesday.
The move by Malaysian authorities came after the Boeing jet's leasing company filed a plea in a local court, claiming the airline operator owed $4.5 million to it.
The court ruled in the lessor's favor, asking the Kuala Lumpur's operators to seize the aircraft.
The development was also confirmed by PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan, who, however, disputed the leasing agency's claims about both unpaid dues as well as the ownership of the plane.
The PIA official said that the Pakistani airline owned the plane but one of its engines was owned by the lessor, adding that the dues stated by the leasing company were incorrect as they stood at only $1.8m and not $4.5 million.
Khan underlined that $1.8m has now been paid to them.
The PIA has begun legal proceedings over the matter and has sent another aircraft to bring back stranded passengers from Malaysia to Pakistan.