PIA reaffirms commitment to turnaround

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) says the carrier's turnaround is underway and has reaffirmed its commitment to the task. In a series of videos to staff on its Twitter page, PIA and CE Rasool Cyan reveal that in the last quarter ended 31 December 2017, the carrier reduced operational losses to $54.5m. In addition, sales revenues for 2017 grew 25% year-on-year. Cyan describes the figures as "a feat nobody expected PIA to do". "The last quarter of 2017 has witnessed improvement in all business KPIs [and] is demonstrating that PIA is moving in the right direction," adds the carrier. There was no mention, however, about the reported interest by the Pakistani government to privatise the state-owned carrier. As part of the turnaround, Cyan says that PIA has been recommissioning more aircraft that were previously in storage - some for as long as over 400 days - so that "[its] assets can earn value". "The mission is great, PIA needs to be revived, PIA needs to thrive as an airline. We need to take the Pakistan flag higher and higher."<br/>