Privatizing PIA: A Turning Point for Pakistan’s Economy

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), once the pride of the nation, had for decades become its most expensive burden. By the mid-2020s the flag carrier was hemorrhaging more than Rs 100 billion a year, swallowing Rs 35 billion in direct annual subsidies, and carrying a mountain of legacy debt that had ballooned to Rs 654–670 billion.

Its negative equity stood at nearly Rs 700 billion, its staff-to-aircraft ratio was 50 % above global norms, and a 2020 fake-pilot-license scandal had triggered international bans that crippled its most lucrative routes. Every year the government was forced to divert scarce fiscal resources — resources desperately needed for schools, hospitals, and debt repayment — to keep a chronically loss-making airline aloft.

That cycle ended in December 2025 when the Government of Pakistan sold 75 % of PIA’s shares to a consortium led by Arif Habib Corporation for Rs 135 billion. The transaction was not merely the sale of an airline; it was one of the most consequential economic reforms in Pakistan’s recent history.

Ending the Fiscal Hemorrhage

The most immediate and measurable benefit is the permanent elimination of taxpayer-funded bailouts. The Rs 35 billion that was routinely injected into PIA every year is now available for productive public investment or for servicing Pakistan’s crushing external debt, projected at $146 billion between FY2024 and FY2029. Even after absorbing approximately Rs 670 billion of PIA’s historic liabilities to make the airline investible, the government has closed the tap on future subsidies. From this point forward, no more public money will vanish into an operational black hole.

The numbers already prove the turnaround is real. After the debt was stripped out and transferred to a government holding company in 2024, PIA posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 11.5 billion in the first half of 2025 — its first profitable half-year in nearly two decades. Lower finance costs, not accounting gimmicks, drove the result. Privatization has transformed PIA from a perpetual liability into a going concern capable of standing on its own.

Operational Revival Through Private Discipline

Private ownership brings something state control never could: ruthless efficiency and genuine accountability. The new owners inherit valuable bilateral air rights with 97 countries and landing slots in more than 170 destinations — assets that were being squandered under public management. With 92.5 % of the sale proceeds ring-fenced for fleet modernization and route expansion, PIA will finally be able to deploy modern, fuel-efficient aircraft instead of relying on decades-old, maintenance-heavy planes.

Overstaffing, long a hallmark of political patronage, will be addressed through natural attrition and voluntary separation schemes, backed by a one-year no-layoff guarantee and protected pensions for existing employees. The staff-to-aircraft ratio that once stood at 300:1 will move decisively toward the global benchmark of 150–200:1. Lower costs, better on-time performance, and competitive fares will follow — benefits that will ripple through tourism, trade, and remittances.

A Signal to Markets and Multilateral Lenders

The sale is far more than an isolated transaction; it is the clearest demonstration yet that Pakistan is serious about structural reform. The International Monetary Fund, which made SOE reform a prior action under the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility, has repeatedly cited PIA as a test case. Completing the privatization on schedule has already unlocked hundreds of millions in bilateral and multilateral inflows and strengthened investor confidence across the board.

More importantly, PIA sets a precedent. If the government can divest its most politically sensitive and loss-making entity, it can tackle the dozens of other bleeding SOEs in power distribution, steel mills, and railways. Each successful privatization chips away at the fiscal deficit, frees budgetary space, and crowds in private investment.

Lessons from Around the World

History is unequivocal: airline privatizations work when executed properly. Kenya Airways, fully privatized in the 1990s, became a profitable hub carrier that today contributes hundreds of millions of dollars annually to tourism and trade. In Samoa, the privatization of what became Virgin Samoa (formerly Polynesian Blue) in 2007 turned an annual $7 million loss — equivalent to 70 % of the entire budget deficit — into consistent profits and dividend payments to the treasury. Airports privatized from Argentina to South Africa have routinely doubled operating income within five years of private takeover. The pattern is consistent: private management, access to capital, and freedom from political interference produce dramatic improvements in efficiency and service quality.

Pakistan now stands at the same inflection point.

A New Chapter

For the first time in generations, Pakistan’s national airline will be run for profitability rather than patronage. The treasury will no longer bleed billions to keep it flying. Scarce foreign exchange will be earned rather than consumed. And the government will be able to redirect resources toward the schools, hospitals, and infrastructure that truly drive long-term growth.

The privatization of PIA is not the end of a proud institution; it is the beginning of a viable, competitive, and self-sustaining one — and, more critically, the beginning of a leaner, stronger Pakistani economy.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of ARYNews or its management.