ISLAMABAD: Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has defended the conversion of the national-flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), into a private company limited, saying that the objective of the ordinance was to turn PIA into a corporate entity so that it operates in an autonomous manner.
Ishaq Dar assured the National Assembly that through the ordinance, the assets and liabilities of PIA have been transferred to the company.
However, the Opposition parties led by Syed Khursheed Shah staged a walkout from the National Assembly (NA) against the promulgation of the ordinance
Dar said PIA was suffering from huge losses and the government had taken several measures for its restructuring. “As a result, the number of its operational aircraft has increased from 18 in June 2013 to 38 now and two more aircraft would hopefully be added this month,” he said.
The minister said that PIA had achieved 82% punctuality of flights and it was close to the world’s top airlines in this regard which was the Qatar Airlines with 87% and Emirates 84% punctuality.
