Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is planning to improve its fleet by adding eight aircraft in the coming year as per the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the national carrier. The upgrade plans have been formulated as PIA managed to regain lucrative routes to Europe after losing them after flight 8303 crashed in Karachi.
PIA’s CEO Khurram Mushtaq reported that the Boeing 777 aircraft was going to be used to fly the longer routes.
He disclosed in a briefing that PIA’s first flight would be to Paris on January 10. According to Mr. Mushtaq, PIA will be operating two flights a week to Paris where Air France will facilitate any passengers that are travelling to European countries other than France.
As per Dawn news, aside from shedding light on the procedure of reopening routes to Europe, Mr. Mushtaq also addressed complaints about the food served on PIA flights. He said that food quality has improved to satisfy customers.
Mr. Mushtaq also announced that daily flights from Karachi to Sukkur will be operational despite the lack of passengers on domestic flights due to the vast and impressive motorway network in Pakistan.
Prior to the opening of the European routes, the runways of both Quetta and Lahore airport underwent upgrades. As per the DG of Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), this included solving the longstanding issues of parking and transportation that had plagued Quetta airport.
The senate committee, which had received both the CEO of PIA and the DG of PAA, was also briefed on initiatives that were being taken to develop airports further.
The members of the senate however, were not pleased with the progress of the ongoing projects and initiatives. This resulted in the creation of a sub-committee to monitor and evaluate the progress of airport development initiatives.
Following the briefing, a press release reiterated the Senate’s commitment to tackling any hurdles in the development of airports with complete accountability and transparency.
The measures being taken by the Senate, PIA and CAA are an attempt to revitalize PIA after years of mismanagement has left the airline relying on government funds to stay afloat.
Attempts have been made to privatize PIA in the recent past but these efforts did not yield positive results as no notable bids were made to purchase the national carrier.
However, with European routes open and new planes entering the fleet, acquiring PIA is an attractive prospect for investors. Privatization minister, Abdul Aleem Khan has been making efforts to fast-track matters pertaining to the sale of government owned entities. It will be interesting to see if Islamabad will be willing to keep PIA or privatize it as it starts to take off once again.