Arif Habib outlines Rs125 billion investment plan for PIA update

– A leading billionaire Arif Habib has pledged a Rs125 billion investment to resuscitate and upgrade Pakistan foreign Airlines (PIA), unveiling an ambitious plan to expand the national carrier’s fleet, re-establish foreign operations and make it into a competitive airline.

Addressing a function in Karachi, Habib said the investment is aimed at transforming PIA into a model national carrier that can compete in the regional and worldwide markets.

He said he reassured Chief of Army Staff and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that the airline will be restored to its previous status with consistent investment and professional management.

Flights in the US expected to resume

Habib expressed hope that the PIA flights to the United States would be resumed later this year after the completion of the relevant regulatory and operational processes.

He also claimed that no employee of the PIA would be laid off during the first year of the transaction under the sale and purchase agreement of the government.

Plan for fleet growth

The billionaire blamed the PIA’s demise on years of underinvestment, administrative inefficiencies and poor management, which he said had hit the airline’s foreign network hard.

He also announced plans to induct five additional aircraft every year in the coming years with an aim to increase the number of operational aircraft to 60 during the next five years.

Habib said PIA currently has 18 active aircraft in operation, with another four to five aircraft in the existing fleet to be restored and put back in service.

Share repurchase

Habib added that payment for 66.66 percent of the airline’s shares had also been paid under the government’s Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA).

He said the remaining 33 percent of the shares would be paid in one year, according to the provisions of the deal.

The investment plan is anticipated to be focused on fleet modernisation, operating efficiency and the expansion of PIA’s international footprint as part of the wider efforts to enhance the country’s national airline.