News Clippings
NA body voices concern over seizure of PIA plane
RAWALPINDI: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Aviation Division on Wednesday expressed concern over the business plan of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and seizure of its plane in Malaysia. The third meeting of the standing committee chaired by Haji...
Farewell Roosevelt Hotel
LET me start with an apology. If you’re still busy absorbing the full magnitude of the sheer stupidity that went into the making of the Broadsheet scandal, I have more bad news for you. The Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan as well as the Scribe Hotel in Paris, both iconic...
Cost of PIA shifting
THE news that PIA is shifting its head offices to Islamabad with all its paraphernalia is a shock for the people of Karachi. The airline has well-established infrastructure and facilities in the city built over the last six decades at an enormous cost that will become...
PIA failed to pay lease amount ‘due to Covid’
RAWALPINDI: Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Saturday said the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had failed to pay lease on time due to the coronavirus pandemic and the Malaysian court issued an order without listening to the arguments of the...
PIA plane seized in Malaysia over $14m lease dispute
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane has been held back by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the jet’s lease, the airline said on Friday, adding that it would pursue the matter through diplomatic channels. The Boeing 777...
Covid-19: China stops PIA flights for three weeks
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has halted flights to China in the wake of the second wave of coronavirus in China. The flights were cancelled after 10 Pakistani passengers tested positive for Covid-19, a PIA spokesman confirmed the suspension of...
Root cause of failure
ACCIDENTS of all sorts frequently occur in the country. Accidents or failures should be a learning opportunity. This is done by investigating or finding the reasons for failure, which is also called root cause failure analysis. Root cause failure analysis is a part of...
Restructuring the white elephant
PIA was created and funded by the state to provide affordable, reliable and safe air transportation to the public who pay to travel. While there is no doubt that PIA employees would be inconvenienced by the long-overdue shifting of operational and administrative...
The shifting of the PIA headquarters
The PTI regime has finally decided to shift the PIA Headquarters from the mega city of Karachi to Islamabad. This measure was in the pipeline for some time. The federal government may have some compelling reasons for its decision but the people of Sindh and...
SCCI-PIA agreement to facilitate business community
PESHAWAR: The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) and a team of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Peshawar on Thursday agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate the business community. The agreement will be signed between SCCI and...
CAA divided into three divisions
RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has been divided into three divisions: regulatory, airport & operations and support functions to make the organisation more robust to ensure safe and secure civil aviation affairs in the country. The PCAA...
Privatization to be accelerated
EDITORIAL: Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) under the chairmanship of the federal finance minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh directed the Privatization Commission (PC) to accelerate the privatization/management contracts of all entities and present the implementation...
VSS availed by 2,000 PIA employees to cost govt Rs5 bn
ISLAMABAD: The Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) availed by 2,000 employees of Pakistan International Airlines will cost around Rs5 billion to the federal government. However, the PIA spokesperson claims the VSS will save Rs 2.5 billion annually, as the national flag...
PIA resumes flight operations to Saudi Arabia after it reopens borders
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday said it was resuming flight operations to Saudi Arabia after the Gulf country announced the reopening of borders and the resumption of international flights following a two-week suspension aimed to stem the spread of...
A busy airport
This refers to the letter ‘The fall of PIA’ (Jan 4) by G Zaman. The shifting of PIA’s head office from Karachi to Islamabad is being justified with the assumption that the capital city is the dominant aviation hub of the country and that Karachi doesn’t generate...
PIA denies moving head-office from Karachi to Islamabad
KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airline (PIA) management has denied reports that it is moving the national carrier's headquarters from Karachi to Islamabad. In a letter to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the management clarified that the HQ was not being moved...
CAA’s bifurcation an international aviation requirement: minister
RAWALPINDI: Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the bifurcation of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was being done according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirement. In reply to a question during a press conference on Saturday, the...
Deaths in air crashes rose last year despite decline in number of flights
WASHINGTON: The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes in 2020 stood at 299 worldwide, even as the number of crashes fell by more than 50 per cent, a Dutch consulting firm said on Friday. Aviation consulting firm To70 said in 2020 there were 40...
Shifting PIA offices
THIS is with reference to the news report ‘PIA moving head offices to Islamabad next month’ (Dec 21). The shifting is to be completed in phases ending March 2021. There is also talk of shifting the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry to Islamabad....
2,000 employees have applied for voluntary separation: PIA
RAWALPINDI / ISLAMABAD: With the sun setting on the tumultuous year of 2020 on Thursday, the management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) closed its Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) and began tallying the total number of employees availing the facility and...