‘PIA to face Rs7.9b loss due to closure of flights to Europe, UK’
ISLAMABAD – The federal government on Thursday informed the Senate that state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had to face a loss of Rs7.9 billion due to closure of its flights towards different destinations since June, 2020 when Minister of Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had given a statement about Pakistani pilots possessing fake licenses.
In his written reply, the federal minister told the House that flight operations of PIA had been suspended to six European countries including United Kingdom after the issue of fake licenses of Pakistani pilots surfaced. “Approximate loss incurred due to closure of flights was Rs7.9 billion during last six months,” the reply said. Since operations to and from UK and Europe including Italy, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and France have been suspended since June 30, 2020 and no exact figures of losses could be calculated, the minister in his reply said. “But considering the data of 2019, approximate loss is Rs7.9 billion during the last six months.” Replying to supplementary questions, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan strongly defended for “cleansing” of the state-owned PIA and said that more than 700 employees recruited in the national airline on political grounds and fake degrees during the past governments had been sent home.
Article source: https://nation.com.pk/04-Jun-2021/pia-to-face-rs7-9b-loss-due-to-closure-of-flights-to-europe-uk