Pakistan aims to sell national airline before election

Pakistan will try to privatise its national airline before general elections due this year, privatisation minister Daniyal Aziz said, as the ruling party seeks to restart sales of state-run businesses. Pakistan International Airlines, haemorrhaging money and losing market share to Gulf-based rivals, has been hit by management turmoil in recent years and a 2016 plane crash that led to 47 deaths. The privatisation of loss-making entities that were draining the exchequer was a key priority for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party when it swept to power in 2013. Despite some initial success, the PIA privatisation process stalled in 2016 after staff protests caused havoc with PIA operations and the govt passed a law that effectively made it impossible to privatise the airline. <br/>