PIA suffers Rs38b loss in first three months of 2023

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suffered a loss of Rs38 billion in the first three months of this year -- 171% more than the last one.

The national carrier’s financial results for the first three months of the year 2023 have been disclosed.

The PIA’s financial report has revealed that the national carrier’s loss was 171% times higher in the first three months of this year against the same period in 2022.

The magnitude of this loss is around Rs38 billion.

During the first three months of the ongoing year, the national carrier only managed to earn Rs61 billion.

The PIA suffered a loss of Rs21 billion because of the appreciation of the dollar against the rupee.

Apart from this factor, the rising oil prices and interest rates also played a role in the national carrier’s losses.

Besides, the operating expenses of the PIA increased by Rs15 billion to Rs43 billion because of negligence in its administrative matters.

The national flag carrier suffered loss of millions of rupees due to bird strikes --with 29 bird hits reported in the previous five months at domestic airports alone.

According to sources in the PIA, 10 bird strikes had been reported so far in May this year alone.

Most of the incidents happened at Karachi and Lahore airports. Due to these strikes, seven planes were damaged.

A few days ago, Flight PK-310 -- an Airbus-320 flying from Karachi to Quetta -- was hit by a bird immediately after takeoff.

After the bird hit, the captain of the plane contacted the control tower and asked for permission to land the aircraft again.

The aircraft was later shifted to the hangar while the passengers were taken to the lounge.

During the examination, it was found that six blades of the plane's engine were damaged.

According to the PIA spokesperson, the passengers of the Karachi-Quetta plane were sent through an alternative flight because of the delay in the repair of the affected aircraft.

The national airline’s administration has released the statistics of bird strikes in the previous five months.

In May alone, 10 incidents were reported at the airports of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Sukkur, Quetta, Peshawar, Gilgit, and Multan.

Most of the bird strike incidents -- 16 in total -- were reported at Karachi and Lahore airports.

During the previous five months, birds also hit PIA planes in Jeddah and Bahrain.

Seven aircraft were damaged because of the bird strikes, However, in 22 of these cases, the airplane did not suffer any damage.