By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has relaunched efforts to privatise its struggling national flag carrier, inviting expressions of interest by May 3, 2025 for a majority stake in Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) after a previous sale attempt failed.
The Privatisation Commission formally issued an advertisement on Thursday, calling on strategic investors—local and international—to submit bids for a controlling stake in PIACL by May 3, 2025. The call for expressions of interest (EOI) outlines a structured divestment plan aimed at transferring management and operational control to private hands while cleaning up the airline’s balance sheet.
The move comes just a week after the government revamped the pre-qualification criteria following the collapse of a previous privatization round in 2024, which drew only one bid deemed too low to proceed. The reset comes as Islamabad races to meet a self-imposed May deadline to conclude the sale, critical to unlocking further International Monetary Fund (IMF) support for Pakistan’s crisis-hit economy.
Bidders at the time cited concerns over taxation and the airline’s bloated balance sheet. Since then, authorities have offloaded nearly all of PIA’s legacy debt onto government books and implemented sweeping reforms to make the carrier more appealing to investors. PIACL, long viewed as a drain on public finances, surprised observers earlier this year by reporting a Rs2.26 billion profit for 2024—its first in over two decades.
According to the official invitation, the government plans to offload a majority stake—between 51% and 100%—to a qualified private investor through a competitive bidding process. The transaction includes the separation of non-core assets and liabilities from PIACL to make it a more viable and attractive commercial proposition. These assets include subsidiaries in ground handling, flight kitchens, training academies, and engineering services.
The bid invitation states that interested parties must have demonstrable experience in the airline or allied sectors, alongside strong financial capacity. Required documents include a company profile, financial statements for the past three years, consortium details (if applicable), and an affidavit confirming the absence of any sanctions or loan defaults.
Interested bidders must submit their EOIs by 3:00 PM PST, May 3, 2025, along with a Non-Disclosure Agreement downloadable from the Privatisation Commission’s website. Following the EOI stage, shortlisted investors will gain access to a virtual data room and be invited to submit final bids.
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