As the process of privatization of the PIA has been set in motion, the business groups interested in the purchase of its shares have been asked to file their applications to the Privatization Commission by June 3. The parties have been told that they would have to deposit $5,000 or Rs1.4 million along with their applications, which would be non-refundable.  The government plans to sell 51 to 100 per cent shares in the airline. 

After initially failing to privatize the PIA, the federal government finally on April 24, 2025 officially issued an advertisement for the purpose, opening the process for interested parties to submit bids. This marked the second time the government has released an Expression of Interest (EOI) for PIA under the current administration. The privatization package includes all major business units of the airline, including passenger services, ground handling, cargo operations, flight training, flight kitchen, and engineering services. 

The government had to resume efforts to privatize the national flag carrier amid growing pressure to reform and shed loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under Pakistan’s ongoing $7 billion loan programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).  The restructuring and sale of PIA is a key pillar in the IMF-mandated plan so that fiscal discipline could be improved and wasteful expenditures could be cut. 

The previous attempt at privatization, which was made in 2024, failed to produce the desired results after the government received a single offer from the Blue World City consortium, which proposed Rs10 billion for a 60% stake—a bid drastically below the Privatization Commission’s benchmark valuation of Rs85.03 billion. The offer was rejected, and the bidding process was terminated amid concerns about transparency, valuation gaps, and investor confidence.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)