Pakistan’s Serene Air Grounded By Regulators, All Planes Broken

Pakistan’s aviation sector is known for being a bit problematic at times, to put it politely. However, this is on a different level…

Serene Air suspended due to zero serviceable planes

Serene Air is a Pakistani airline that launched in 2017, and it’s privately owned (largely funded by Chinese investors). The airline has a fleet of seven aircraft, including three Airbus A330-200s and four Boeing 737-800s, at least in theory. The airline operates domestic flights, as well as service to China and Saudi Arabia, among other destinations.

Unfortunately things aren’t looking so good for Serene Air. The carrier’s air operator certificate (AOC) has just been suspended by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), causing all of the carrier’s domestic and international flights to be suspended with immediate effect.

The reason? Well, to quote the regulators:

Serene Air presently has zero serviceable aircraft available for operations, rendering it incapable of sustaining the operational capacity required to conduct safe air operations in accordance with applicable PCAA rules and regulations.

Therefore, the air operator certificate issued to Serene Air is hereby suspended with immediate effect. You are directed to surrender the aforesaid certificates for endorsement forthwith.

Yeah, that kind of seems like an issue?. The airline has issued a statement regarding this, blaming the suspension on “unforeseen circumstances,” as follows:

We would like to inform our valued passengers and stakeholders that our flight operations are temporarily suspended. This is a short term situation, and we are working with all relevant authorities and partners to ensure a swift return to service.

Our team is fully committed to resolving the matter quickly and efficiently. We want to assure you that this is a temporary pause, and our priority remains the safety, comfort, and trust of our customers.

What is actually going on with Serene Air’s fleet?

To state the obvious, it’s kind of difficult to run an airline if none of your aircraft are serviceable. So what’s actually going on here? I had a look at the carrier’s seven planes:

• Of the carrier’s three A330s, one hasn’t flown in over a year, one last flew to Karachi (KHI) on September 26, and one last flew to Jeddah (JED) on September 29
• Of the carrier’s four 737s, three haven’t flown in over a year, while one last flew to Tianjin (TSN) on September 27

So what happened here, exactly? Did the three operational planes all break down at roughly the same time over the past couple of weeks? If so, goodness gracious, these planes must’ve been holding on by a thread. Or has the airline just run out of money, and can’t afford to keep these planes in service? Having all three active planes break down over the course of three days seems highly unlikely.

Pakistan’s aviation sector is just such an unbelievable mess, and there’s no good reason for it to be that way. I mean, this is a country where the national airline was found to have 150 or so pilots with potentially fake licenses.

Bottom line

Pakistani carrier Serene Air has been suspended by regulators, after it was found to have zero serviceable aircraft available for operations. Four of the carrier’s seven planes haven’t flown in over a year, while the three remaining planes all stopped flying in late September.

It’s not clear if these planes actually aren’t “serviceable” (as in, usable from a safety perspective), or if this all comes down to financial issues. Regardless, it’s just the latest example of how rough Pakistan’s aviation sector is.

What do you make of this Serene Air situation, and does anyone know what’s actually going on?