PIA cancels hundreds of flights as fuel crisis deepens

By Staff Reporter

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines Corp. canceled more than 300 flights in two weeks as it ran low on fuel amid a payment row with the state-owned oil company.

The national flag carrier, which is slated for privatization under an IMF bailout program, operated only 10 flights on Thursday, including nine international ones, a spokesperson said.

The airline schedules flights on a daily basis depending on fuel availability and has prioritized routes to Canada, Turkiye, China, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.

The spokesperson said PIA is trying to manage funds and resume its normal schedule as soon as possible.

“Flights are being rescheduled on a daily basis,” the company said in a statement, without giving details on how long the crisis would last. “The flights are being scheduled as per the availability of fuel.”

The fuel crunch is the latest blow for PIA, which has been losing money for years and was barred from flying to Europe and the U.K. in 2020 after a pilot license scandal. The airline and Pakistan State Oil Co. are at odds over payments, with the oil firm suspending its credit line and demanding daily advance payments for fuel supplies.

“PIA is trying to manage funds and resume its normal schedule as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said, without giving a timeline or an estimate of how many passengers have been affected. Local media reported that thousands of travelers have been stranded or inconvenienced by the situation.

The government has said it can’t afford to keep bailing out the airline, which has accumulated losses and liabilities of billions of dollars.