ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has achieved an annual net profit for its financial year 2024 for the first time in more than two decades ahead of the government’s attempt to sell the airline.
The PIA spokesperson said that the national flag carrier earned an operational profit of Rs3.9 billion and a net profit of Rs2.26 billion. The airline last achieved profit in the year 2003.
“The airline’s operating margin was more than 12pc, which is on a par with the performance of any of the best airlines in the world,” the spokesperson said.
The country’s Defence and Aviation Minister, Khawaja Asif, in a post on X, said that the PIA Board of Directors meeting approved its financial results for 2024, which showed airlines’ operational and net profit.
Asif said that the process of the airline’s privatisation would benefit from this development.
According to Bloomberg, the results mark a turnaround for the airline, whose financial losses have seen its aircraft being impounded at foreign airports, flights cancelled, and the carrier running close to a default in recent years.
The government tried, and failed, to sell its airline last year after the initial bid fell short of the minimum price of about $306 million. Now, it is making another push, with initial bids due later this month.