ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif informed the National Assembly on Wednesday that the cash-starved Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has initiated a financial restructuring process aimed at tackling its ongoing problem of persistent business losses.
In a written response to an inquiry, he stated that the restructuring involved removing the bank debt of Rs268.7 billion, the government’s debt of Rs170 billion, legacy operating liabilities totaling Rs188.3 billion, and employee liabilities amounting to Rs44 billion from the corporation’s financial records, along with non-core assets valued at Rs26 billion.
Consequently, the negative equity saw a remarkable drop from Rs698 billion to Rs45 billion by April 2024.
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He noted that this financial restructuring has alleviated the corporation from the heavy load of debt servicing, which previously accounted for one-third of its cash inflow.
The company has been operating since 2023, and from 2025, the corporation will turn into a profitable entity at the bottom level with the ability to fully discharge its future obligations.
In another written reply, Asif said that as of February 2025, the current employee strength at PIA is 7,104, which is within the approved Human Resources Budget (HRB) of 11,877 approved by the PIACL board of directors in 2021, resulting in a 36 per cent reduction in positions. He said that approximately 1,904 positions are still vacant.
Answering another written reply, he said that the new Gwadar International Airport has been operationalised on January 20, 2025.
He said that the staff accommodation along with allied infrastructure works are in progress and are planned to be completed tentatively by June 2027.
In a written reply to a question, Minister for Interior Senator Mohsin Naqvi told the house that a total of Rs1.36 billion in expenses has been made to stop various protests announced in the red-zone of Islamabad during the last five years.
He said that a total of Rs157.76 million was spent in 2019-20, Rs96.14 million in 2020-21, Rs277.95 million in 2021-22, Rs724.03 million in 2022-23, and Rs100 million in 2023-24. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry told the house that Pakistani passports contain international security features, making them impossible to forge.
During the question hour session, he said that strict action has been taken against human smugglers, while Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officers involved in trafficking have also been terminated.
The parliamentary secretary for defence, Zeb Jaffer, told the house that Gwadar International Airport is operating under an open sky policy to promote international flight operations and facilitate greater connectivity.
She said that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is committed to facilitating airline operators in the commencement of flight operations to and from Gwadar.
She said that PIA has recently commenced international flight operations between Gwadar and Oman.
She maintained that facilities for refueling international flights have been provided at Gwadar International Airport.
She said that the upgrade and expansion of Nusrat Bhutto Airport Sukkur are currently in the planning stage, and the PC-1 of the project amounting to Rs40 billion has been prepared.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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