Karachi: Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIA), the national flag carrier of Pakistan, posted a net loss of $433 million (Dh1.59 billion) for 2016, a jump of 36 per cent over the loss of $310 million incurred in the previous year, a media report said.
The state-run carrier’s accumulated losses continued to soar mainly due to non-stop flights on several loss-making routes, according to a bourse filing.
PIA continued to fly on several loss-making routes to Europe and the US.
According to a stock filing on Friday, the company’s revenue was down 2 per cent to Rs89 billion from Rs91 billion a year ago.
The airline also released financial figures for January-March. It posted a net loss of Rs11 billion in the three-month period, up 91 per cent from Rs6 billion in the similar quarter of the earlier year, Dawn reported.
Revenues for the two comparable quarters remained almost flat. The loss from operations in the latest quarter jumped to Rs7.71 billion from Rs2.65 billion a year ago due to increase in aircraft fuel costs that amounted to Rs8 billion in January-March.
But the bottom line was hit mainly by an unexplained item marked as “other costs”. It amounted to Rs20 billion for the quarter, up from Rs18 billion a year ago.
According to the Tribune, PIA has decided in principle to temporarily suspend flights to and from New York, which alone was causing a loss of Rs2.25 billion per year, said the adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation, Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan, recently.
PIA was not booking seats for the New York flights for November onwards, it was learnt.
The national carrier has also lost much business on domestic routes to international airlines under the open skies policy of the government.
The government has allowed Gulf airlines, particularly UAE carriers, to operate to and from multiple airports in Pakistan, which is driving up PIA losses.
The airline has developed a new business plan under new Chief Executive Officer Musharraf Rasool Cyan. The plan, besides giving a new business strategy, would also demand a bailout package next week.
PIA Secretary Mohammad Shuaib was not available for comment.
The airline did not announce any dividend. The stock lost 36 paisa to close at Rs4.63 a share on the stock market.
Total assets of the airline at the end of 2016 stood at Rs110 billion. The notes appended to the accounts for the quarter ending on March 31 said that the airline had a fleet size of 36 aircraft with 11 777s, 15 A320s, including four on wet lease, five ATR72s and five ATR42s.
“The company is in the process of acquiring more aircraft on dry lease for which tenders have been floated,” stated a note attached to the quarterly accounts.
In the last report, PIA mentioned that as the majority shareholder in the company, the government had communicated that it would extend “maximum” support to maintain the company’s “going concern” status.
It was possibly to explain the auditors’ note on the company’s “going concern concept” as its liabilities exceeded assets.
The company asserted that “PIA continues and would sustain in the long term as a viable business entity” on the basis of numerous financial measures taken since 2012 to lift the airline off the ground.
