Pakistan’s flag carrier PIA appoints new CEO as it braces for privatization 

Pakistan’s flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, has appointed former Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Amir Hayat as CEO for one year, a PIA spokesperson told Reuters.

This week, the outgoing government said it planned to privatize loss-making PIA, which has accumulated hundreds of billions of rupees in losses and arrears.

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The move would be in line with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.

Hayat had been the acting CEO since April 2022, after the former CEO’s retirement.

The government could have appointed Hayat as CEO for three years, but the prime minister decided to appoint him for one, said PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan.

This week, the Cabinet Committee of Privatization also backed the hiring of a financial adviser to process transactions involving the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, an asset of PIA Investment Limited.

PIA hopes to resume flights to the United Kingdom in the next three months. Services have been suspended since 2020 amid a pilot licensing scandal.

Pakistan agreed to fiscal discipline plans as part of a $3 billion arrangement with the IMF, including the privatization of loss-making assets.

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