Govt taking steps for revival of PIA: Asad Qaiser

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Friday said that the government is taking several steps for the revival of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

He said that while addressing an event organised by the PIA Officers Association in Islamabad and urged the PIA officers to make endeavours for restoring the past glory of the organisation.

“Commitment and vision are needed to achieve success,” he said.

Earlier, the national carrier announced that its flights to Tokyo, Japan would be discontinued because of the financial crunch it is facing.

PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar had said that the step has been taken to cut down the losses of the national flag carrier because the Tokyo flights were causing a loss of Rs300 billion annually. Starting from February 15, PIA’s flights from Beijing to Tokyo would be restricted to Beijing.

Last year, the airline had suspended its operations to Kuwait and Salalah, Oman. The decision followed the suspension of flights to New York, where PIA said ran into heavy losses. The national flag carrier, however, resumed operations on Muscat and Sharjah routes which it suspended over a year earlier.