Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has stated that it has \u201ctemporarily\u201d grounded some of its planes, assuring that they would be back in the air once payments were made.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, it had emerged that PIA had resorted to grounding several aircraft as it struggled to secure funds to maintain its operations for the next few months.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Aviation issued a stern warning last week, telling the federal government that PIA currently was grappling with a severe cash flow crisis, leading to arrears with creditors, aircraft lessors, fuel suppliers, insurers, international and domestic airport operators, and even the International Air Transport Association (IATA).<\/p>\n
Consequently, the national flag carrier had been compelled to ground five of its 13 leased aircraft, with the possibility of four more facing a similar fate, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
Adding to the mounting concerns, the Ministry of Aviation disclosed that Boeing and Airbus were on the verge of discontinuing the supply of spare parts by mid-September. Considering these challenges, the ministry requested an immediate cash injection of Rs23 billion, and the suspension of duties, taxes and service charges to domestic agencies. However, this request came without the presentation of a concrete and viable business plan.<\/p>\n
The ministry cautioned that the PIA\u2019s restructuring was a complex process that was expected to span around eight months. It also emphasised that for the divestment of PIA\u2019s shares to yield a fair value, the airline must remain operational throughout all stages of restructuring.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, a report in Bloomberg quoted the carrier\u2019s spokesperson Abdullah Khan as saying the airline had to cancel a number of domestic and international flights after grounding at least five of its Airbus A320 jets.<\/p>\n
The report quoted him as saying that PIA must pay at least $100 million immediately to about half a dozen leasing firms it has engaged for chartering aircraft, airport authorities, aircraft spares and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cPIA\u2019s liabilities have increased to Rs743 billion or $2.5bn, which exceeds its total assets by five times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
Khan said, \u201cSome leased planes have been temporarily grounded and will be back once payments are made.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that there were blocked funds since December 2022, foreign exchange conversion challenges for payments concerning leases, airport handling fees, and component support programmes.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson also responded to a Geo News report that quoted a senior airline official as warning that PIA was on the verge of collapse and flight operations could be suspended by September 15 \u201cif emergency funds are not provided\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not shutting down by the 15th,\u201d Khan told. \u201cThe situation might be tough but not to the brink of closure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has stated that it has \u201ctemporarily\u201d grounded some of its planes, assuring that they would be back in the air once payments were made. Earlier this week, it had emerged that PIA had resorted to grounding several aircraft as it struggled to secure funds to maintain its operations for the next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-355853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n