Railways and Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Friday emphasized that the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s losses may climb to Rs. 259 billion by 2030 if urgent corrective measures, including privatization, are not implemented.
Tabling the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in the Senate, he said foreign direct investment and privatizing the administrative control of PIA were necessary to maintain the national flag carrier, adding it already faces a debt burden of Rs. 742 billion. Under the bill, he explained, PIA would be made into a holding company. The next government, he added, would then be able to decide on the percentage of PIA shares to be offered for sale.
Emphasizing that he did not support privatization of national assets, he said PIA—as it stands today—was unsustainable, with entire revenue being spent to repay debts due to annual losses of Rs. 110 billion. He also blamed former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan for making “reckless” statements on the floor of House, regretting that this had causes losses of Rs. 71 billion in the European Union and United Kingdom. In 2020, the former minister had alleged in a speech before the National Assembly that a “majority” of PIA pilots had fake licenses, which had resulted in several international markets denying access to the airline until the matter could be resolved. These claims were later found to be false, but the damage had already been done.
The draft bill has proposed an amendment to Section 3, stating that “the shareholders of the company shall be deemed to own and hold the same number of fully paid shares with such rights and privileges, including as to class, kind and face value, as they owned and the federal government may, during the validity period and by notification in official gazette, issue fresh shares or cancel any shares as it may deem fit.” Another proposed amendment states that “representation in the management of PIA and its subsidiaries shall be proportionate to shareholding.”
The bill—part of a slew of legislations the outgoing government has attempted to pass in its last days—drew expected backlash from senators, who have criticized the lack of proper debate in the House. Subsequently, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani referred the matter to the relevant standing committee for further deliberation before its passage.