Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif said the privatisation process of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would be completed at the end of October 2024.
Responding to a calling attention notice regarding closure of Hyderabad Airport in the National Assembly on Monday, the minister who has additional portfolio of Defence Production and Aviation said the total loan obtained by the PIA was Rs800 billion. He said that flights were not viable commercially for PIA from Hyderabad to Karachi.
Responding a question of Khawaja Izharul Hasan, he said the government would give permission if any private airline wanted to start flights.Earlier, in a written reply to a question, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema told the House that the foreign loans, excluding IMF loans, received by the government for the last five years; i.e.; 01-July-2018 to 30-June-2023 were $ 57.272 billion