‘Struggling’ PIA’s Chairman Azam Sehgal remains absent from crucial PAC meeting

OFFICIALS SAY 2004 WAS THE LAST YEAR IN WHICH NATIONAL AIRLINE SHOWED PROFIT PIA OFFICIALS FAIL TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ASKED BY SHEIKH RASHEED, OTHERS REGARDING PIA PROPERTIES IN FRANCE

Aviation Division invited the ire of chairman and members of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when they failed to answer many queries put to them during a briefing that covered the performance of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) -a public sector entity that loses billions of rupees per annumduring the last 5 years.

Upon the chair’s noting the PIA chairman’s absence, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Captain Qasim said Azam Sehgal, Chairman PIA was not able to attend the meeting as he had an arbitration hearing in Lahore; whereupon, Syed Khurshid Ahmed, PAC chairman, asked his staff to check with the registrar of the concerned court and report back.

During the briefing, the officials were questioned about the viability of its premier service by an already cashstrapped behemoth. The PIA COO said these steps had to be taken in order to compete with international airlines like Etihad, Qatar and Emirates. “British Airways is presently not flying in and out of Pakistan. We held talks with them and they’ll consider us once we convert all our flights to Premium service,” the official said. When asked how many international destinations Pakistan had lost in recent years, the officials reported that PIA had stopped flying to Amsterdam, Chicago, Bangkok and Hong Kong in recent years.

When asked regarding the last time PIA turned in a profit, officials said 2004 was the last year where the PIA registered a profit. Since then, PIA had been bailed out various times by public money. Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed asked the PIA officials why assets like its French properties and the Roosevelt Hotel had not been sold to straighten the financial knots that tie PIA down. “How much are these properties earning?” he asked. The officials replied that both assets were turning in revenues of $3 million per annum.

Accountant General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) added that the induction of 5 faulty aeroplanes that were not fit to fly in mountainous areas would cause a loss of Rs 2 billion rupees in 2 years.

The PIA fleet presently comprised of aeroplanes owned by it and aircraft that were being leased through companies. The lease in this case was of 3 types: wet, dry and damp. In a wet lease an aeroplane was provided along with crew, maintenance and insurance, while in a dry lease only the aircraft was provided while the crew, maintenance and insurance was on the lessee. In a damp lease, aircraft, flight crew and maintenance were provided by the lessor, while the cabin crew was arranged by the lessee.

During the months of Jan-Sep 2016, more than 4 million passengers travelled using PIA. 2,413,238 flew on international routes, while, 1,714,591 flew domestically.

The committee was briefed that flights to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed the most to revenues with a share of 29 percent. These were followed by flights for UK, domestic destinations, the Gulf, America and SAFEA, who contributed shares of 22 percent, 15 percent, 13 percent, 9 percent and 7 percent respectively. The committee resolved to hold monthly briefings with PIA in order to gauge its performance after regular intervals.