The privatization of PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) is back on the agenda according to the Pakistani Ary News outlet, which cited undisclosed sources. The airline is just one of several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) the current Shehbaz Sharif government wants to see moved to private hands akin to how Air India (AI, Delhi International) was sold to Tata Sons.

The government argues that the privatisation push, which includes Islamabad International Airport, will not only make the SOEs more efficient, it will bring in much-needed investment funds.

Plans to partially or fully privatise PIA are not new, with proposals dating back decades. Most recently, in 2021, discussions were reportedly underway to split up the carrier's various operations and sell them off, only for government figures to later scotch the reports. However, with the ousting of Imran Khan's government in 2022, the current administration is "fully prepared to transfer management control of these institutions to the private sector." Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reportedly taken an interest in the privatisation program and told the relevant agencies to expedite the process.

PIA reported a loss of PKR38 billion rupees (USD136.8 million) for the first three months of this year, a 171% increase on the comparable 2022 quarter. In addition to only earning revenues of PKR61 billion (USD219.6 million) in the period, sources said a weak Pakistani rupee, rising fuel costs, and interest rates also played a role in the loss. According to the ch-aviation Commercial Aviation Aircraft Data module, the airline flies to 40 destinations in 15 countries with a fleet of 33 aircraft, including sixteen A320-200s, four ATR42-500s, one ATR72-500, six B777-200ERs, two B777-200LRs, and four B777-300ERs. Currently, 11 aircraft in the fleet are inactive. The current Pakistani government has also recently said that they want to increase the fleet size to 49 aircraft, hoping that scaling up will generate enough revenues to overcome a consistent pattern of losses.