Lahore: Pakistan’s national ship has posted an annual income for the first time in more than two years ahead of a second attempt by the government to promote the aircraft, the country’s military minister said.
The disclosure was made at a Pakistan International Airlines ( PIA ) board meeting, the minister said late on Tuesday ( Apr 9 ).
” PIACL Board today has approved its accounts FY 2024, and after 21 years, it has achieved an operating profit of PKR 9.3 Billion ( US$ 33.14 million ) &, Net Profit of PKR 26.2 Billion ( after deferred tax adjustment )”, Defence and Aviation Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said in a post on X, which was confirmed by the airline in a statement.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday termed it a “major turn after years of losses” and said in a blog on X:” The clouds away looks brighter, God willing”.
Islamabad’s try to privatise PIA next time fell flat when it received just a single present, well below the asking price of more than US$ 300 million.
Pakistan had offloaded almost 80 per cent of the firm’s legacy debts and shifted it to state books ahead of the privatisation effort.
The rest of the debt was also cleaned out of the airline’s accounts after the failed sale attempt to make it more attractive to potential buyers, according to the country’s privatisation ministry.
The airline has for years survived on government bailouts as its operational earnings were eaten up by debt servicing costs.
Officials say offloading the debt burden and recent reforms like shedding staff, exiting unprofitable routes and other cost-cutting measures led to the profitable year.
Ahead of the attempt to sell the airline last year, PIA had faced threats of being shut down, with planes impounded at international airports over its failure to pay bills and flights cancelled due to a shortage of funds to pay for fuel or spare parts.