Govt to complete PIA privatisation within next 3 months: Aleem Khan

Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has said that the government has decided to make changes according to preferences of the interested parties for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) sale and the process would be completed within the next three months, according to a press release from the Privatisation ministry on Thursday.

In October last year, the government’s plan for privatisation of the national carrier fell flat after the only bidder, Blue World City consortium refused to match the minimum expectation of the Privatisation Commission (PC) of Rs85.03 billion and stuck to an offer of Rs10 billion for a 60% stake in the PIA.

In today’s press release, Aleem Khan was quoted as saying that “all concerns of the parties interested in the process of privatisation of the airline have been addressed properly”.

“Moreover, the government has decided to make changes according to the preferences of the interested parties for the sale of PIA,” it added.

‘Can’t sell PIA for peanuts,’ says Aleem

As per the release, the minister further mentioned that to make PIA’s privatisation more attractive, “a new roadmap is being provided and it is expected that all stages of the privatisation process will be completed within the next three months”.

Aleem Khan emphasised that there was an expectation of better expressions of interest from investors in the second attempt as the introduction of the PIA flights to Europe made the privatisation environment even “more lucrative and favourable”.

The PIA’s flights operations to Europe were resumed after the European Commission and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lifted the suspension on the national carrier in November last year.

“Due to recent measures, the national airline is ready to become profitable again,” the Thursday’s press release read.

“Abdul Aleem Khan further shared that after Europe, flights to the UK will begin within the next three months. He highlighted that PIA is the first choice for travel for the 240 million Pakistanis.

“Following Europe and the UK, flights to the United States and the Far East will be functional in the next phase.”

The minister assured that the PIA’s credibility would be restored and “the airline would be brought back to its peak”.

“There is no doubt that Pakistan International Airlines still possesses the potential to become profitable once again,” Aleem Khan maintained, hoping that the privatisation process would be better and more feasible in the second attempt.