ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad on Thursday informed the National Assembly that restructuring plan of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) through strategic partnership is on the cards.
He said Privatization Commission has been given the task to pursue privatization of national airline by divesting 26% of its shares. This would save the airline from losses and improve its service for passengers.
He also enumerated the steps being taken to improve performance of PIA including fleet modernization; closure of non-profitable international routes, and adoption of a comprehensive fuel cost control strategy.
The Minister said officers with good reputation and relevant experience have been appointed on key posts.
Sheikh Aftab said that various less economical or loss making domestic and foreign stations of PIA have been closed.
Flight on various loss making routes have been suspended. Now PIA is not operating on routes such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Bangkok etc.
The Minister said in order to minimize the costs, PIA is in process of acquiring fuel efficient narrow body aircraft on lease.
