Govt extends deadline for EOI submission as PIA's privatization continues

ISLAMABAD - The federal government has decided to extend the deadline for submission of an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the privatization of the state-owned carrier.

Federal Minister for Privatisation, Abdul Aleem Khan confirmed the development and stated that the deadline has been extended by 15 days and the fresh deadline is now May 18th.

The announcement comes after 10 local and international companies expressed interest in the privatization of the PIA; it was also affirmed that there will be no further extension in the submission of EOI for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

Abdul Aleem Khan also revealed that three local airlines were also among the potential parties to form a consortium with international companies for PIA’s privatization.

The minister also took aim at the critics and said those who inflicted a loss of Rs830 billion on PIA were unable to see the benefit of privatization. 

The minister while stressing that privatization of all loss-making institutions is a priority added that Pakistan Steel Mills, the PIA, and electricity distribution companies had burdened the economy.

Highlighting the importance of PIA, the minister noted that the combined share of all the airlines is less than that of the national carrier. 

The minister also assured that PIA will become profitable once new planes are added to the fleet, adding that the privatization process of PIA will be 100 percent transparent and open to the media.

Khan also assured that the PIA employees will not face any issues with the privatization of the national carrier.

It is to be highlighted that the government had announced to privatize the loss-making PIA by June this year as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had tasked the relevant officers to complete the formalities accordingly.