ISLAMABAD: The new owner of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Thursday that the airline was in talks with aerospace manufacturer Boeing as he vowed to expand its current fleet and ensure service revamp as the government formally concluded its privatization process.

A Pakistani consortium led by the Arif Habib Group secured a 75 percent stake in the PIA last month for Rs135 billion ($482 million) after several rounds of bidding, valuing the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million). Pakistan had previously attempted to reform the debt-ridden airline, which had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in financial losses over the years. 

The Pakistani government and the Arif Habib Consortium signed the transaction documents for the PIA’s privatization during a televised ceremony in Islamabad. The event was attended by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, senior cabinet members and Chief of Defense Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. 

“The money that will go into the airline will improve its services, new planes will be bought and you will see a big difference very soon,” Arif Habib, the chairman of the consortium, said. 

“We have held a very extensive meeting with Boeing, we are holding a meeting with Airbus tomorrow (Friday). We are also exploring other options,” he added. 

Habib vowed the airline will meet the prime minister’s expectations as far as the PIA’s performance is concerned, saying the government’s patronage would be “critical.”

Sharif congratulated the nation on the signing of the transaction documents, hoping Habib and his team would ensure PIA improves its performance, punctuality, cabin service and ground service in the days to come. 

Once considered among 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, UK and the US after a pilot licensing scandal. The EU and the UK lifted the bans, providing fresh momentum to the carrier.

In an exclusive interview to Arab News last month, Habib said PIA’s new management plans to more than triple its fleet to 64 aircraft from the existing 19 in up to eight years.

He also said the consortium may look to buy the government’s remaining 25 percent stake and offer part of it to a “strategic investor,” preferably a foreign airline, to make PIA more competitive.