PIA suffers Rs67.31bn losses in five years, NA told

[sonicboom]

PIA suffers Rs67.31bn losses in five years, NA told

Friday, February 25, 2011


ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines suffered a loss of Rs67.31 billion till the third quarter of the last year after the deduction of taxes, a senior official said on Thursday.

In response to a question raised by Syed Zafar Ali Shah of Pakistan People’s Party in the Lower House during the question-hour session, Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said that the corporation suffered a loss of Rs11.69 billion during the first three quarters of the last year, as against the total loss of Rs5.82 billion it suffered in 2009.

The PIAC suffered Rs12.76 billion, Rs13.40 billion and Rs36.14 billion losses in 2006, 2007 and 2008, respectively, he said.

The minister said that steps are being taken to make the corporation a profitable entity.

PIA has finalised and submitted its business plan, which is a strategic roadmap for the next five years, he said, adding that the management, in the business plan, commits itself to strengthening culture of ethics and compliance, aggressive revenue growth through efficient marketing plans and implementation of stringent cost control measures, resulting in substantial saving over the period plan.

To another question asked by PML-N’s Shireen Arshad Khan, the minister said that the national airline is only operating to 27 countries out of more than 250 across the world.

“The reason for not operating to other countries is that it is not economically viable. The airline operates to any destination where it finds the deployment of its limited fleet is beneficial to the carrier,” he said.

The minister said that efforts are being made to improve the security system to stop entry of irrelevant persons at airports throughout the country, adding that the Airport Security Force (ASF) is vigilant to prevent illegal activities there.

The ASF director general is supervising an inquiry being conducted over the incident in which a boy managed to go to the wheels of a plane and fell on the rooftop of a house in Lahore a few days back, he said.

Mukhtar said that the Ministry of Defence is also looking into a proposal to double the strength of ASF to improve its efficiency, however, “we are taking maximum work with limited force”.

To a supplementary question, he said Rs20 were being charged from each visitor at the Islamabad Airport to avoid entry of irrelevant persons and ensure improved security system there.

PIA suffers Rs67.31bn losses in five years, NA told