Fake degrees: PIA estimated to suffer Rs7b loss due to sanctions

In response to a question posed by the Pakistani Muslim League (PML-N) Senator Irfan Siddiqui in the Senate session, the House was informed in writing on Thursday that after the statement of Federal Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, the United Kingdom, European countries: Italy, Spain, France Denmark and Norway have banned PIA flights.

According to the reply, the suspension of flights is still going on while the final losses in this regard cannot be estimated at this point, however, keeping in view the data of 2019, the loss has been estimated at Rs7.90 billion.

The Ministry of Aviation says that the licenses of 14 pilots have been suspended in this regard while five such pilots have been fired.

The ministry says several steps are being taken to reduce PIA's deficit so that the airline can become a self-sufficient entity, and to reduce the losses incurred in different periods to improve the financial health of the corporation, efforts are underway to reduce costs and increase profits.

According to the Ministry of Aviation, the main reasons for PIA's deficits are inbred loans, interest and repayment of credits and an increase in fuel prices.

As a result of the steps taken to increase the revenue in the previous years, the national flag carrier has earned a profit of Rs7.5 billion in 2019 as compared to 2018.

According to the reply submitted, the national airline has earned profit after a gap of eight years whereas the first two months of 2020 also saw an improvement in revenue.