PIA losses expected to come down to Rs18b, NA body told

PESHAWAR: The losses of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) were expected to come down to Rs18 billion in the current fiscal compared to the previous year, the members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat were told on Tuesday.

A meeting of the committee was held at the conference room of the Bacha Khan International Airport with its Chairman Rana Muhammad Hayat Khan in the chair.

Other members at the meeting included Asad Umar, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Ali Raza Abidi, Sardar Mansab Ali Dogar, Malik Ibrar Ahmad, Chaudhry Khalid Javaid Warraich, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Ms Nighat Parveen Mir and others.

Acting Manager Civil Aviation Authority (CCA) Obaidur Rehman Abbasi, Deputy Director Amir Mehboob, Director Planning and Development CCA Nadir Shafi Dar, representatives of PIA, CAA, Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and others were present.

The participants of the meeting were told by PIA officials that the airline’s losses were expected to decrease from Rs26 billion in 2017 to Rs18 billion in the current fiscal. The total losses were Rs32 billion in 2016.

The PIA officials said the airline was gradually improving due to the drastic measures, effective strategy and planning of the federal government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

To a question about the involvement of the PIA crew in drug-trafficking and bringing a bad name to the country, the national airline officials said that disciplinary action was taken against crew members found guilty.

They said the stay orders issued by courts to the crew were being investigated because the drug-trafficking cases were the main cause of delay in taking disciplinary action against the accused.

However, one PIA officials said it was the responsibility of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to foil drug-trafficking attempts and take appropriate action.

The meeting was told that more destinations were being explored for the national flag carrier to generate revenue and strengthen the financial position of the PIA.

Asad Umar, the Member National Assembly belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), expressed surprise over the statements of the Privatization Commission about the privatization of the PIA.

He said the Parliament had categorically rejected the plan but it was strange to hear the statements of the Privatization Commission that the plan had been finalized.

The PTI MNA said the policy of the national airline was not catering to the modern day requirements, adding within its present status the PIA could not compete with the private sector and consequently it suffered huge losses.

The committee members was informed about construction of various facilities at Peshawar airport including a parking lot, avios bridges, elevators and other facilities under a comprehensive plan that would cost Rs2.90 billion. They were told that the ongoing development work would be completed next month.

To a question, the acting manager of the Bacha Khan International Airport said the daily operations included seven international and two domestic flights. He said that flight operations were carried out between Peshawar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other Gulf countries.

To a question, the acting manager said domestic flights between Peshawar and Karachi were carried out regularly. He said there were no flights on the Peshawar-Lahore and Peshawar-Islamabad routes due to shortage of passengers. “As these flights were not economically feasible, this would further increase the losses of PIA,” he added.