PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) is to be split into two entities with control of its core business to be offloaded to a global airline over the next 18 months. In an interview with Reuters, Pakistan's Minister of State for Privatization, Mohammad Zubair, said that PIA's core business will be sold off while government will retain control of ancillary operations, such as ground handling and hotels, under a holding company. The state will then sell off each of its interests individually over time.
Though no decision has yet been made about a possible buyer, Gulf carriers such as Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International), and Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) have been mentioned as possibilities. Emirates, however, has dismissed the report while Etihad and Qatar Airways have refused to comment.
“Emirates has no plans to acquire stakes in other airlines. We remain focused on our own organic growth,” an airline spokesperson told the Gulf News.
With a staff compliment of roughly 17'000, loss-making PIA operates a fleet of thirty-one aircraft of which only twenty-four are operational. The sale, which is expected to raise USD4billion, is part of the conditions Pakistan accepted in return for an International Monetary Fund (IMF)-provided USD6.67billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
