KARACHI: Pakistan's national flag carrier said on Thursday its bank accounts would be unfrozen "soon," adding that its talks with the country's top tax body, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) over non-payment of taxes had concluded successfully. 

The national airline's spokesperson confirmed earlier today, Thursday, that FBR had frozen Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) bank accounts on Tuesday due to non-payment of taxes. This is the third time the FBR has frozen the airline’s bank accounts, with previous incidents occurring in February this year and January of last year.

PIA has been grappling with financial challenges, exacerbated by a decrease in international routes due to a suspension of its flights to European countries in recent years.

“The matters between the PIA and the FBR have been resolved," PIA spokesperson Abdulah Khan said in a statement on Thursday. "The bank accounts will be restored soon after necessary paperwork.”

Speaking to Arab News earlier during the day, Khan said the country’s tax body believed the airline owed Rs2.8 billion in unpaid taxes, while PIA officials thought the amount was much less and stood at Rs1.3 billion.

Despite the freezing of its accounts, Khan dismissed reports that the action had led to a suspension of flights.

In an attempt to alleviate the financial distress of the national flag carrier, the government approved a bailout package of Rs. 44 billion in September 2021.

PIA has been grappling with a flight ban imposed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Commission. The ban came into effect after the May 2020 air crash in Karachi, which was attributed to licensing problems within the airline by one of the country’s former aviation ministers.

The EASA spokesperson recently said constructive discussions were ongoing with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority regarding the flight ban.

“EASA and the European Commission are in constructive dialogue with the Pakistan CAA. A visit to Pakistan by an EASA team will depend on the progress of those discussions,” an EASA spokesperson said in a written response to Arab News earlier this week.

The FBR spokesperson could not be reached for a statement about the development.