For years, Pakistan’s government has been trying to privatize its struggling national airline, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The latest such bid was launched in April 2025, which came shortly after the company reported its first ”profit” in decades, and also managed to shed most of its legacy debt issues.
Continue reading: Miracle: Pakistan International Airlines Privatized, As Investors Take 75% Stake
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
PIA was the seed airline for Emirates. Emirates got its start with PIA equipment and Pakistani know-how. But seeds don’t grow by themselves and it took a while for Emirates to equal its mentor and then it surpassed its mentor in ways that ….. well, you know.
"As Jalaludin Rumi has prophesied
This day
This day Allah
Allah will make his presence known to you
There is a miracle in the bazaar
There is a miracle in the bazaar
There a spirit appeared in flaming green
PIA the madman is cured
Praise be to Allah
Praise be to Allah
There is no God but god
There is no God but god"
- Todd Rundgren. "Miracle In The Bazaar"
As a Pakistani, I am very happy with this development. Hopefully this will result in a significant transformation, and allow the carrier to be globally competitive and a safe and reliable option to fly to and from our homelands. If the airline is properly managed, the airline can no doubt easily support a fleet of 60+ aircraft based on current demand (and be profitable).
The one thing PIA needs to fix the earliest is its disgraceful widebody fleet. It says a lot when your newest widebody, AP-BMS (a 777-300ER), was built in 2009. At least there are some seconhand sharkletted A320s, but the widebody fleet is abysmal compared to SriLankan’s A330s, Biman’s 787s and even tiny Nepal Airlines’ two A332s. And those aren’t exactly huge airlines like the colossuses (AI and 6E) next door!
To fix PIA the new owners basically need to fire all the pilots and flight attendants and then re-hire only legitimately qualified pilots and flight attendants. Some PIA flights have had double the number of "pilots" and "flight attendants" as other airlines on comparable airlines. Why? PIA jobs were highly coveted. It's like how the city trash truckers in Detroit or New York City used to drive around with 3-4 "drivers."
This appears to be a classic proxy arrangement. Arif Habib is being positioned as a civilian front, while effective control of the carrier shifts to powerful military interests. The concern is not revival, but further decline—using the airline as a mechanism to legitimize unaccounted wealth under the guise of privatization.
They should really figure out what to do with the Roosevelt Hotel. are they making a profit on it?
It is virtually impossible to change the work or social culture but it is the root cause of all systemic failures. I am still watching how Singapore investment in Air India fares. But I am not at all optimistic. I became aware of Pakistan in July of 95 when the famous Pakistani cricket player Imran Khan (Muslim) married the 19 year old Jemina Goldsmith, daughter of the wealthy Jewish James, in London. She converted to Islam and moved to Pakistan to live with him and they have two sons. They are now divorced. He became PM and married a Muslim woman, a spiritual consultant. Both of them are now in prison, due to a ridiculous charge and conviction.
The six wealthy GCC will not invest in any Muslim countries for fear of Muslim fanatics. Why invest in a Pakistani national airline when they can boost revenues of their own national airlines? Pakistan harbored Osama Bin Laden for over a decade before we abducted and executed him in open sea, without a trial!!!. Ironically, the entire Saudi military is staffed by Pakistanis. Bahrain offers citizens to Pakistanis to increase Sunni population to counter the dominance of Shia Muslims, as it had experienced constant revolts and protests in the past two decades.
Always a couple years behind
Tougher turnaround job as this airline was used to transport Bin Laden and his operatives around the country that hid him.
Atleast passengers on PIA don't piss on others like on Air India. Take your hate somewhere else. Indian government is shamelessly hiding the cause of the recent dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad - flight AI171
An entire essay about Imran Khan and no mention what a fine cricketer he was. Epic fail.
If wasn´t that long ago that Westerns viewed Koreans and Chinese as backward and inefficient. Work and social culture can change within several generations.
it is true now why not emirate employees help PK to stabilize and run independently and robustly. Pk should reorganize its route structures in such a way that they are operating only very
lucrative routes
PIA made an annual net profit in 2024 due to its historical debt ($2 billion) being moved from its accounting books into a newly formed holding company. This was the main reason why the airline was able to report a net profit.
News link: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2460773/pia-holding-company-approves-rs268b-debt-restructuring and https://www.dawn.com/news/1903037
I would love to see a great airline in Pakistan. But even from a purely financial perspective, the proposed additional investment is not taking them a long way …
Or another appropriate Todd Rundgren song - I don't want to work. I just want to bang on the drum all day.
You too. Isn’t it ‘great’ that we’re ‘allowed’ to say ‘Christmas’ again… for real, though, enjoy your holidays, whichever ones you celebrate.
PIA wasn’t what Al-Qaeda used as much as the airline that provided more Indian cities with international service than any other airline in the world at the time: Emirates.
Part of why the Gulf carriers may not want to invest is simply because when Etihad tried investing in struggling airlines like PIA, it worked out -horribly- for them
The one thing PIA needs to do is to visualise how they can fly a plane into the ground in Bangalore city.
I hold a commercial license but only for single engine airplanes. I’m over 65. Should I apply at PIA? Will they sacrifice my beagle to improve on-time performance?