Real estate developer says cleared to bid for Pakistan’s flag carrier

View of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane, taken through a glass panel, at Islamabad International Airport, Pakistan October 3, 2023. (REUTERS/File)

• Government said earlier this month six companies have been shortlisted as potential PIA bidders
• Top Blue World City official says the group is also planning to acquire Islamabad airport operations

KARACHI: A Pakistani real estate development company said on Wednesday it had completed requirements to enter the bidding process for a stake in the country’s flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), scheduled for later this week.
The cash-strapped government, which is looking to privatize the loss-making airline, said earlier this month six companies had been shortlisted as potential bidders.
But only one company met a Tuesday deadline to submit “earnest money” prior to final bidding, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday citing a privatization commission official.
The chairman of Blue World City, Saad Nazir, confirmed to Reuters in a text message that his company is the only one to enter the final bidding process, declining to disclose the earnest money it had submitted.
The privatization ministry did not immediately reply to request for comment outside business hours.
Islamabad has previously said it was putting on the block a stake of between 51 percent and 100 percent in the debt-ridden airline as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund.
Blue World City, a real estate developer, has a consortium that includes Blue World Aviation and IRIS Communication Limited.
Nazir said the group is also looking into acquiring operations of the Islamabad International Airport which the government is looking to outsource.
The group is in talks with global aircraft manufacturers and airport operators, including Chinese and Turkish companies, he said.