ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday civil war in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of all US troops from the war-torn country later this year would disconnect Pakistan’s Gwadar port from land-locked Central Asian states.
The South Asian nation is promoting the strategic Gwadar port on the shore of the Arabian Sea as a trade and economic hub for the country, and an economic corridor for Central Asian states. The deep sea port is being developed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $62 billion energy and infrastructure project under construction in Pakistan since 2013.
A vast majority of US troops have left Afghanistan, ahead of the timetable set by President Joe Biden, who had promised they would be home by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the attack that brought them to Afghanistan. The US forces leave as Afghanistan is on the verge of a civil war, a cause of concern for Pakistan, which shares a long, porous border with Afghanistan, hosts millions of Afghan refugees, and faces threats from Pakistani militants — the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group — that have found safe havens in Afghanistan.
“We are talking to [Afghan] Taliban and neighboring countries for a political settlement in Afghanistan,” the prime minister said during a daylong visit to Gwadar. “In case the political settlement is not reached, besides the refugees’ influx, our trading links with the Central Asian states will be disconnected.”
The prime minister inaugurated the North Gwadar Free Zone, Gwadar Expo Center and Henan Agricultural Industrial Park, among other projects, during the visit. He also inaugurated three factories and witnessed the signing of agreements for solarization and desalination plants to resolve Gwadar’s water and electricity shortage problems.
Ambassadors from friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Egypt and Qatar, also participated in events in Gwadar, along with federal ministers and top government functionaries. Some Chinese businessmen addressed the ceremony through video-link, promising to invest in the Gwadar industrial zone.
Khan said Pakistan had started a one window operation to facilitate Chinese and other foreign investors set up export-led industries in the Gwadar free zone.
“Gwadar is becoming a focal point for the whole Pakistan,” the prime minister said. “We are organizing ourselves to provide better service to Chinese investors like Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia did.”
Civil war in Afghanistan will disconnect Gwadar port from Central Asia — Pakistani PM
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Civil war in Afghanistan will disconnect Gwadar port from Central Asia — Pakistani PM
- Pakistan is promoting Gwadar port on Arabian Sea as a trade hub for the country and economic corridor for Central Asia
- On daylong visit to Gwadar, PM inaugurates several projects including North Gwadar Free Zone, Gwadar Expo Center, Henan Agricultural Park
New PIA owner plans more GCC flights, lower airfares
- New management will focus on religious tourism to Makkah, Madinah and other sites to expand global reach
- Owner Arif Habib says airfares will be rationalized to make PIA flights affordable for low-income Pakistanis
KARACHI: Pakistan’s recently privatized national carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), plans to increase its flights to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as part of its post-privatization business strategy to achieve 7.5% annual revenue growth, its new owner said this week.
A Pakistani consortium, led by Arif Habib Group, clinched a 75% stake in PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million) on Dec. 23 after a competitive bidding process, in a deal that valued the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
The sale marked Pakistan’s most ambitious effort in decades to reform the debt-ridden airline that had accumulated over Rs784 billion ($2.8 billion) in losses. The government said it aimed to end decades of state-funded bailouts and support the airline’s revival.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Arif Habib, chairman of Arif Habib Group, shared that he aims to attract around 70 million Pakistanis, who travel annually via different airlines, by making airfares more affordable.
“That [GCC region] is our biggest market... We would definitely try to increase the frequency of flights, increase the number of planes there, and try to capture more market share in that area,” Habib told Arab News on Monday.
“So, there we see a lot of opportunity.”
The new management of PIA, which currently caters to 4 million passengers annually, aims to target religious tourism, which Habib called a “captive market” in Pakistan and the Middle East.
According to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the airline runs around 20 flights daily to the Middle East.
Habib plans to invest around Rs112 billion ($400 million) in PIA to turn the airline around, implementing short- and long-term improvements ranging from upgrading seats to tripling the 19-aircraft fleet, and engaging a foreign airline as a technical partner through strategic divestment over the next seven to eight years.
The group also intends to reduce PIA fares to make air travel more affordable for passengers from Pakistan’s low-income groups.
“Yes, we have been advised that in order to increase our market share, we will have to rationalize the airfares,” Habib said. “That is in the plan, and we will unfold it as it comes.”
The new owners have engaged a global advisory firm, Seabury Aviation Partners, to identify viable markets for the newly privatized airline and expand its presence both locally and internationally.
Habib aims for up to 7.5% annual growth in PIA’s operational revenues to make it profitable and the new management is targeting European and North American markets, particularly routes to and from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, for this purpose.
“The UK is the most lucrative market where I think there is a lot of demand,” he said, adding they would also be seeking more flight destinations. “Even for USA there is demand there.”
Habib, however, said the airline would take time to deliver “reasonable” returns to its investors, including AKD Group Holdings, Fatima Fertilizer Company, City Schools, Lake City Holdings and Fauji Fertilizer Company, a publicly listed firm owned by Pakistan’s military.
“In initial period of one to two years, we may see some losses but into medium term, I think, that would be turned around,” he concluded.
PIA posted a pre-tax profit of Rs11.5 billion ($41 million) for the January–June 2025 period, its first such profit for this timeframe in nearly two decades, according to a Reuters report in September. The airline recorded losses during the same period in 2024.
Once considered one of Asia’s leading carriers, PIA struggled with chronic mismanagement, political interference, overstaffing, mounting debt, and operational issues that led to a 2020 ban on flights to the European Union, the UK, and the US following a pilot licensing scandal. The EU and UK have since lifted their bans, giving the airline renewed momentum, while the US ban remains in place.
On Tuesday, PIA announced that the airline will be expanding its UK operations and will operate four weekly flights from Islamabad to London starting Mar. 29.
“The flights are being resumed after a long gap of six years,” PIA spokesman Khan said in a statement. “PIA is already operating three weekly flights to Manchester.”
