Turkey offers help to revive PIA

ISLAMABAD: Turkey expressed interest on Thursday to support government’s proposed restructuring of state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and upgrading the country’s aviation sector.

“Pakistan and Turkey have mutually agreed on extending their bilateral relations and to work collectively in the field of aviation particularly for the betterment of Pakistan International Airlines,” a statement said after a meeting between Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation Mehtab Khan and Ambassador of Turkey in Pakistan Mustafa Yurdakul.

Minister for Privatisation Daniyal Aziz had earlier announced that government would sell the core air transport business of the flag carrier whose losses reached to Rs325 billion by March last year.

“The government will have to privatise the PIA by 15 April this year under a law,” Aziz told a press conference in the mid-January. In 2016, an amendment was unanimously made into the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Act 1956 and according to which the airline has to be privatised by April 15, 2018.

Under the law, the management control of the PIA would, however, continue to remain in the hands of the federal government and that it would not be able to divest more than 49 percent shares to a third party.

PM Adviser Khan said the government is focusing on strengthening regional cooperation and bilateral relations to ensure the prosperity and sustainable peace in Pakistan as well as in the whole region.

“Pakistan and Turkey are brother countries and our friendship will last forever,” he added.

“We are enthusiastic to collaborate on different projects with Turkey to further promote this relation and to collaborate in aviation sector particularly for the betterment of different departments of Pakistan International Airlines including IT (information technology) and enhancement of engineering setup.”

Yurdakul assured the adviser that the existing cooperation in the aviation sector between the two countries would continue.

“We are ready to work closely to provide further assistance to Pakistan in the aviation sector,” he said.

Turkish Ambassador appreciated the steps taken by the incumbent government in order to restructuring Pakistan International Airlines and for the betterment of aviation sector in Pakistan.

Different other matters relating to mutual cooperation in different sectors came under discussion in a meeting between adviser and the ambassador.

Senior officials of aviation division were also present during the meeting.

The privatisation minister said the government would only privatise air transport business of the PIA “and rest of the business of the airline would be given to another company (on contract basis)”.

The minister didn’t give further details on the privatisation structure, but it may be a combination of sale and contracts. Aziz stressed that the rights of all the employees of Pakistan International Airlines would be safeguarded.

The Pakistan International Airlines’s privatisation was included in the early-year agenda of the ruling government, but the issue has turned so controversial that the government had to halt the process last year.

Private sector’s airlines are profitable throughout the world, while airlines, which are controlled by the government, are facing losses, the minister said.