Why the Numbers Finally Add Up
Pakistan’s Fiscal Reality (FY24)
-
Salary tax collected: Rs 367 billion
-
SOE losses: Rs 851 billion
That’s 2.3× more money lost by SOEs than collected from all salaried employees combined.
This is not ideology. This is arithmetic.
PIA’s Own Turnaround Trend
-
FY23 loss: Rs 26 billion
-
FY24 loss: Rs 15 billion
-
42% improvement year-on-year
PIA is still bleeding—but it’s bleeding less, after:
-
Debt restructuring
-
Route normalization
-
Cost discipline
-
Reduced political interference
Privatization isn’t the starting point. It’s the next step.
“But No Private Airline Ever Succeeded in Pakistan”
True—and incomplete.
Failed carriers include:
Shaheen Air, Bhoja, Air Indus, Hajvairy, Aero Asia, Serene
Why they failed:
-
Aviation treated as a luxury by FBR
-
Excessive outbound taxes
-
No economies of scale
-
Weak capital buffers
-
Fuel and FX shocks
-
No policy consistency
Why PIA is different:
-
Existing international slots
-
Heathrow legacy access
-
Large diaspora demand
-
Scale no startup ever had
-
Sovereign route leverage
This is not a greenfield airline. It’s a distressed asset with infrastructure.
