The Pakistani Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved PKR5.6 billion rupee (USD40 million) in guarantees to the struggling flag carrier PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International), Pakistan Press International has reported.
The guarantee package will allow the carrier to take loans for urgent maintenance and repair needs. The funds will also back the planned fleet growth.
In early January 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan outlined a new rescue package for PIA, which was to include guarantees for PKR15 billion rupee (USD107 million) and a freeze on the PKR80 billion rupee (USD572 million) debt to the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority (PkCAA).
The government has recently also said that it will keep PIA state-owned and will come up with a new restructuring plan by the end of March 2019, despite the warnings from the airline's new CEO Arshad Mahmood Malik that it would be easier to launch a new carrier rather than to revive PIA.
