PIA cancels 349 flights in last two weeks

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan International Airlines on Thursday said it had cancelled 349 flights in the last two weeks because of a shortage of fuel, underscoring the difficulties faced by the cash-bleeding national flag carrier.

A spokesperson for the PIA clarified that its fuel crisis had affected its normal operation for the last two weeks but its flights were being rescheduled on a daily basis.

In a statement, the spokesperson said the flights were being scheduled as per the availability of fuel.

The PIA and the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) have been locked in a dispute over payments.

The airline said the PSO had suspended its credit line for the fuel, and was now releasing supplies only against a daily advance payment.

The current payment dispute between the PIA and PSO emanated from a recent decision of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that assured the airline of payment of Rs1.8 billion for the revival of its frozen accounts. However, the airline’s management could not benefit from the facility.

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Later, a standard operating procedure (SOP) was agreed under which the PIA would pay to the PSO in advance on a daily basis for the fuel.

“The flight cancellations since October 14 have affected both domestic and international routes”, the spokesperson told Reuters.

The crisis comes after Pakistan announced it would privatise the airline as part of a fiscal discipline plan agreed under an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout agreed in June.

The PIA has accumulated billions of dollars in losses and liabilities, which the current caretaker government said it could no longer fund.

"The PIA is trying to manage funds," the airline’s statement read, adding that the resumption of the usual schedule would depend on the availability of funds.

It said Canada, Turkey, China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia would be priority destinations when flights resumed and it would keep passengers updated on its schedules.

PIA flights to Europe and the UK have been suspended since 2020 after the European Union's Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) revoked the national flag carrier's authorisation to fly to the bloc following the pilot licence scandal.

The PIA landed in hot water in the wake of its flight PK-8303 crashing in Karachi on May 22, 2020, and the subsequent announcement by the then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan of the grounding of 262 airline pilots suspected of dodging their exams.

(With input from Reuters)