PIA grounds dozens of flights over fuel bills

ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: Pakistan’s national airline carrier this week cancelled dozens of domestic and international flights because it could not afford to pay its fuel bills, officials said Wednesday.

Athar Awan, deputy spokesman for PIA, said 48 international and domestic flights were cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday “for non-availability of fuel”.

“The reason for the disruption in fuel supply is non-payment of dues because PIA is facing a financial crisis and cannot pay the dues to Pakistan State Oil on time,” a PIA official speaking on condition of anonymity said.

Bloomberg has previously reported that PIA has liabilities of Rs743 billion (around $2.5 billion), exceeding its total assets by five times. The interim government has said it will sell off the airline as part of a wider privatisation plan for state-run companies.

Pakistan International Airlines is anticipating a significant improvement in its flight schedule after it increased its daily fuel payment to PSO to Rs150 million. A PIA spokesperson, speaking to The News, said: “We expect that PIA’s flight operations will run smoothly at 90 percent from today (Thursday).”

The spokesperson said the PIA flight schedule is gradually returning to normalcy due to the successful arrangement of funds for fuel. “PIA has secured these funds from its own resources, and as of October 19, we anticipate a full return to the scheduled PIA flights,” he added.

Despite a gradual return to normalcy, the spokesperson mentioned that it might take a few more days for the operations to fully stabilise.

PSO confirmed receiving Rs150 million. A PSO spokesperson said that from October 8-17, 2023, the company had supplied PIA with fuel of Rs1,859 million, but the payment received from PIA was Rs1,106 million.