Pakistan national airline says operations to gradually improve after government okays $28 mln support

A Pakistan International Airline (PIA) plane taxis on the runway on the way to Saudi Arabia during the PIA employees strike in Islamabad on February 8, 2016. (AFP/File)

• Pakistan approved financial support for PIA after it grappled with fuel supply shortage in last two weeks
• Hundreds of flights were canceled after state-owned firm suspended oil supply to PIA over unpaid dues

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Saturday its flight operations would start improving gradually after the government approved Rs8 billion ($28.8 million) financial support for the national flag carrier.
The development comes after the cancelation of hundreds of domestic and international flights by PIA in the last two weeks after the state-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO) suspended its supply of fuel to the airline over unpaid dues.
The national flag carrier, slated for privatization by the government, has amassed substantial losses and unpaid dues amounting to hundreds of billions of rupees in recent years.
A PIA spokesperson said on Saturday the airline and PSO had resolved their outstanding issues.
“The supply of fuel would gradually start increasing in the next few days,” PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan said in a statement. “The schedule of flights affected because of fuel shortage will start to return to normal.”
The statement came a day after the Pakistani government approved Rs8 billion financing for PIA, the Finance Division said, amid a worsening fuel supply crisis faced by the national flag carrier in the last two weeks.
The decision was made at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) presided over by Caretaker Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, which considered Aviation Division’s proposal to provide financial support to PIA through the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).
“After detailed discussion and deliberation, ECC decided to approve the proposal of Aviation Division for bridge financing through CAA’s resources amounting to Rs 8 billion for PIA to meet emergent requirements related to overdue payments,” the Finance Division said in a statement.
“The ECC allowed the Aviation Division to proceed with the bilateral arrangement between the CAA and PIA.”
PIA’s fuel crisis occurs at a time when it is aiming to resume flights to the United Kingdom within the next two months.
PIA flights to Europe and the UK have been grounded since 2020, following the EU Aviation Safety Agency’s revocation of the airline’s authorization to fly to the bloc due to a pilot licensing scandal.