PIA losses decline by 33.7pc in FY2020: report

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Sunday released its financial results for FY 2020 as it submitted audited accounts with the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

According to the airline’s audited financial results for the year 2020, PIA reduced its operational losses from  Rs6.130 billion in 2019 to Rs680 million in 2020.

The report shows that PIA achieved revenue of  Rs94.989 billion, down from Rs147 billion achieved in 2019, the main reason for which was COVID restrictions affecting all of PIA’s routes, reducing the overall operations by nearly half.

The pandemic which hit the industry in March 2020, saw nearly halting of all the operations, domestic and international for months, which only started to resume partially from July onwards.

The operations of Umrah & Hajj flights also impacted the revenues of PIA. The national flag carrier responded by focusing on special charter flights, repatriation and relief flights which helped it retain its foothold in the market and generate valuable revenue from alternative sources, the report reads.

“During the year 2020, PIA oversaw a number of reforms such as cutting down of loss-making units such as Speedex and curtailing on loss-making routes and cost reductions without compromising on service reliability and standards,” reads the report.

“PIA also undertook a Voluntary Separation Scheme accepted by nearly 2,000 which will have a considerable impact on the expense of 2021.”

CEO PIA Air Marshal Arshad expressed his satisfaction on the financial results and acknowledged the team effort put forth by PIA.

“PIA is making all efforts to face and cope up with COVID scenario and though the outlook remains challenging in 2021 as well, it is hoped that with the support of Government of Pakistan, our Pakistani customers and dedication of PIA employees, we will emerge stronger than before,” he added.