ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Aviation Division Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Abbasi Thursday informed the Senate Special Committee on Performance of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) that the national flag-carrier would operate on commercially viable routes only.
“The PIA has decided in principle that it would operate on commercially viable routes only to minimize financial loses and make the organization a profit earning entity,” he said in the committee meeting, chaired by Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah. He admitted that PIA’s performance was not up to the mark, for which the current management was not responsible as it inherited several issues from the past regimes over the years.
The adviser said PIA was being strengthened by inducting more aircraft in the fleet and improving its services, requesting the parliamentarians “to do criticism on PIA performance, but avoid passing negative remarks as these affect its business, credit and reputation.”
Committee member Mushahid Ullah Khan said the PIA fleet was consisted of 16 aircraft only when the present government came into power in 2013, while now its 37 planes were operating for different local and foreign destinations, out of which four were with engineering department for necessary maintenance.
Committee Chairman Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah expressed anger over non-submission of required information by the PIA management even after a period of eight months.
He constituted a sub-committee, comprising Farhatullah Babar, Col ® Tahir Hussain Mashhadi and Numan Wazir, to probe the alleged sale of PIA Airbus A-310 to a German firm in violation Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules, which would submit its report in a period of two months, fixing responsibility. Representatives of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) apprised the committee that a narcotics supplier namely Jannat Gul had been arrested from Karachi, who allegedly was a ‘main source’ of transporting a huge quantity of Heroin seized from a PIA plane at Heathrow Airport, London on May 15.
“The accused is used to supply narcotics from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Karachi and recovered 8.5 kilogram drugs from him when he was arrested,” they said.
Currently, they said the accused was on a judicial remand and had disclosed names of his two accomplices, while further investigation was underway.
They said the ANF had arrested PIA 17 employees in the case and trying to unearth the gang, if involved any. On a query of the Committee Chairman, the ANF officials said National Crime Agency of UK, which seized the 11kg heroin from kitchen cabinet of the PIA plane, did not share any information or outcome of its inquiry with Pakistan.
Syed Muzaffar asked the official to submit a detail report about modus operandi adopted by smugglers to use PIA planes for drug trafficking.
They body directed the PIA management to improve quality of food items and other services provided to passengers during travel in flights.
Adviser to the PM on Aviation Sardar Mehtab said 59 percent work on the Quetta airport expansion project had been completed and efforts were being made to complete the project at the earliest.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Senators Mushahid Ullah Khan, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar, Dr Ashok Kumar, Taj Muhammad Afridi, FArhatullah Babar, Sherry Rehman, Col.Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Nauman Wazir Khattak, Saleem Mandviwalla, Nuzhat Sadiq and Azam Swati, besides Secretary Aviation Division, CEO of PIACL and other senior officials.
