ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has approved an ordinance that enables the transfer of recently privatized Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) assets, state media reported on Monday.
Zardari approved the PIA Corporation Conversion Repeal Ordinance, 2026, on the prime minister’s advice, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“The ordinance aims to fulfill legal requirements for completing the process related to the transfer of PIA assets,” the state broadcaster said.
Zardari’s office in a separate statement said these assets include PIA planetariums in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, as well as lands located in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Kashmir Road areas.
The list of assets also include the PIA’s land at the Old University Ground area, a football ground in Karachi’s in KDA Scheme I area, an office in Dyal Singh Mansion on Lahore’s Empress Road and the Jahangir Khan Sports Complex land in Karachi, the office of the president said.
The former national flag carrier was privatized in December 2025 when the Arif Habib Group secured a 75 percent stake in the PIA 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 same consortium notified Pakistan’s Privatization Commission last week that it intended to buy the remaining 25 percent stake in the PIA, paving the way for full private sector ownership of the airline.
The Privatization Commission said last Thursday that the airline’s management control is expected to be transferred on or before May 25.
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, United Kingdom and the United States after a pilot licensing scandal. The EU and the UK lifted the bans, providing fresh momentum to the carrier that still remains barred from flying to the US.
The new owner, Arif Habib, has vowed to improve performance by expanding the airline’s fleet, adding new international routes and enhancing services for passengers.
