Pakistan PM receives ‘detailed roadmap’ on PIA reform

Pakistan International Airlines, which in May suffered a fatal crash in Karachi, must undergo reforms including increasing revenue and upgrading its aircraft, Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan has said. The carrier’s CE Arshad Malik, who was reinstated to his position in March following a court dispute over his appropriateness for the role given his military background, “apprised the prime minister of the strategies to be worked out regarding the reorganisation of the national airline” during a meeting on reforming and restructuring PIA, according to an 8 June statement from the prime minister’s office. This includes how to improve the “financial discipline” of the company, the efficient utilisation of the company’s assets, and “other related matters”. Khan told the meeting that the country is suffering due to Covid-19 and the present situation demands that the reform and reorganisation of the national carrier, which is losing billions of rupees a month, be expedited. He added that “special attention” should be paid to reduce PIA’s expenses, increase its revenue and financial resources, and upgrade its aircraft. Special attention should also be paid to “the best use of domestic and foreign assets owned by PIA through a clean and completely transparent procedure so that these assets do not become a further burden on the people”.<br/>