By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines Corp. appointed Adrian Hamilton-Manns, a New Zealand-born executive who has spent much of his career at low-cost carriers, as chief executive officer, giving him the task of rebuilding a thin fleet at the newly privatized flag carrier.
Hamilton-Manns formally took charge on Monday, replacing Air Vice Marshal Amir Hayat. The airline said in a statement on X that his appointment “marks a pivotal chapter in PIA’s ongoing transformation.” It said he has more than 30 years of experience, has led three airlines and has held senior posts at several others. The board regards him as an expert in restructuring and reviving aviation businesses.
He arrives from Oman. SalamAir named Yaqoob Al Kiyumi as its chief executive effective Oct. 1, succeeding Hamilton-Manns. He had run the Muscat-based low-cost carrier since July 2024, and before that was president and CEO of Kazakhstan’s FlyArystan from April 2020 to July 2024. He was also founding CEO of the Africa-focused low-fare airline flyafrica.com from 2012 to 2016. Air Astana Group said FlyArystan’s revenue grew to $277.8 million in 2023 from $57.4 million in 2020. His published profile also lists senior roles at South African Airways and Virgin Australia.
His background differs from PIA’s business. Hamilton-Manns has mostly run or launched low-cost carriers, while PIA is a full-service airline. Local media reported in mid-October that he was the nominee, with the appointment subject to security checks and other clearances.
The PIA consortium and board thanked Hayat for leading the airline through a period of significant operational and regulatory challenges. They credited him with overseeing improvements in aviation safety standards, helping win the lifting of restrictions on flights to Europe and the U.K., and preparing the company for privatization. Europe’s aviation safety regulator lifted its suspension in November 2024, and PIA resumed flights to Paris in January 2025. The U.K. kept separate restrictions until July 2025. The curbs followed a 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi and a later controversy over pilot licenses in Pakistan.
Pakistan sold PIA in December 2025, when a consortium led by Arif Habib Corp. agreed to buy a 75% stake for 135 billion rupees ($482 million). The price valued the airline at 180 billion rupees. The carrier had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in losses before the sale. The consortium took over management in June through PIA Equity Ltd. Its total investment commitment is 180 billion rupees, made up of 125 billion rupees in fresh capital and 55 billion rupees payable to the government. A second closing came three months later, when the group injected a further 45 billion rupees to acquire the remaining 25%.
The new owners have pledged to restructure operations, expand the fleet and improve customer service. Management plans to more than triple the fleet to 64 aircraft from the current 19 over about eight years. Habib said in December that the first phase would bring in 38 aircraft aged four to seven years. He said in July that the airline could turn a profit within its first year after privatization and that the fleet could reach 60 aircraft within five years. In April, he put the carrier’s aircraft count at 30, of which 18 were operational.
The first additions arrived this weekend. PIA’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landed in Islamabad on Sunday on flight PK-786 from London Heathrow. It is leased from Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways under a wet-lease arrangement, in which Norse supplies the crew and remains responsible for maintenance and insurance. Hayat greeted the aircraft at the airport. The two-jet agreement was signed on Oct. 9 and is meant to expand direct service between Pakistan and the U.K. PIA resumed London flights in March after a six-year gap, and its weekly U.K. frequencies now total seven.
Permanent additions are further off. Shareholders have said Boeing Co. could deliver the first five 787s in the first half of 2027. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discussed an acquisition of 16 aircraft with Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson in Washington on July 17. Pakistan has also been looking at Airbus SE jets and Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc engines for the airline.
Hamilton-Manns was not the owners’ first choice, at least in public reporting. Bloomberg News reported on July 10 that PIA had shortlisted Tewolde Gebremariam, the former head of Ethiopian Airlines Group. Two officials said the next day that he had been selected. The appointment was never formally announced, and he was reportedly awaiting security clearances. Air India named Gebremariam its chief executive officer on Aug. 5.
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