Business Desk 
Jul 15, 2025
A PIA plane prepares for takeoff at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, February 1, 2012. — Reuters
The government plans to privatise Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national flag carrier, in 90 days as a part of its overall rescue plan for inconsistent loss-generating state enterprises. The process, aimed at rescuing the struggling airline, is now in its final stages, officials confirmed Monday.
However, five parties have shown interest in the purchase of PIA. Of these, four bidders were given approval to proceed with the effort and are now looking at financial and operational data for the airline. These companies were given access to the internal documents of PIA starting this Tuesday.
Privatisation Commission Secretary Usman Bajwa provided this information during the meeting with the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Privatisation, chaired by MNA Dr Farooq Sattar.
Bajwa also stated the winning bidder will need to grow the number of aircraft in the PIA fleet from 19 to at least 45. He added that large Pakistani business groups and air carriers from the region have expressed interest in acquiring the airline.
Safety and security for PIA employees was also a big concern that was raised during the meeting. Legislators raised a three-to-five year job security guarantee for existing employees as an important issue.
Moreover, Bajwa reassured the committee that employee welfare is part of the deal structure, and said the airline’s workforce has already been cut from 11,000 to 6,000 to improve efficiency.
In addition to PIA, the government will also begin seeking expressions of interest (EOIs) for New York’s Roosevelt Hotel in August.
