Pakistan's flag carrier seeks cash injection amid UK return bid
Gary NoakesPakistan International Airlines is seeking a cash injection to keep it flying as it bids to resume UK services following a safety ban.
The Pakistan government is reportedly set to release £37.6 million to keep the airline in the skies and defer loans totalling £698 million, according to the country’s Express Tribune newspaper.
The carrier has grounded 14 of its 31 aircraft, it said, and had asked for a £61 million bailout but had been told this request would not be met in full.
PIA flights to the UK and Europe were suspended in 2020 after European safety officials revoked the carrier’s licence when pilots across Pakistan’s aviation industry were found taking bribes to sit exams for new entrants.
The UK and Europe make up 37% of the airline’s revenue and the airline has taken a big financial hit since the ban.
In late July, Reuters quoted Pakistan’s aviation minister Khawaja Saad Rafique as saying new legislation that would satisfy UK authorities was in place that would allow PIA to resume flights to Britain “in three months”.
PIA flights from Heathrow and Manchester are currently operated under a codeshare by Turkish Airlines via Istanbul.
Pakistan’s government last month announced plans to privatise the state-owned carrier, but this seems to have faltered following the latest crisis.
TTG has approached PIA for comment.
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Gary Noakes
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