A PIA flights PIA749 departs from Islamabad for Paris (France) after Europe has lifted the ban on Pakistani airline. The aircraft Boeing 777-200 departed from Islamabad Airport at mid-day today.
PIA was banned from any sort of flights in Europe by Europe Union in June 2020 citing Karachi Plan Crash which had resulted in 100+ casualties. After that, government’s concerns over fake pilot licenses further extended the ban. Pakistan International Airlines has been facing hurdles like unpaid debt, cost-related issues, corruption, and accidents since last two decades.
Last year, government had decided to privatize the national asset lower the burden. Initially, FlyJinnah (Lakson Group), Blue World City, AirBlue, Pak Ethanol, Arif Habib Corporation, and YB Holdings showed interest in acquiring the failed company. All the bidders were the big sharks in the business having capabilities to uplift the company.
Also Read: Fly Jinnah’s flight narrowly escapes fatal disaster
But things did not work as expected. Blue World City remained the only Sole Bidder for airline. The chairman of housing authority, Saad Nazir, set 10 Billions Rupees (36 Million$) as a final bid. The decision came after PIA proposed strange conditions like lavish protocols for the company staff.
Government officially rejected the sole bid and preferred continuously running the company at loss. PIA posts a loss of around 100 Billion Rupees (360 Million$) annually. PIA is having thousands of employees with paid maintenance, free travel, housing packages and other luxuries that are keeping the company in loss.
Leave a Comment