The Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, the President of the Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, the President of All Karachi Industrial Alliance, the Chairman of the FPCCI Advisory Board, and the President and former provincial minister, Mian Zahid Hussain, said on Monday that the lifting of the four-year ban on the flights of Pakistan’s national airline PIA in European countries is an excellent achievement. He said the move would reduce the airline’s losses and increase its market value, which is encouraging.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that efforts should also be made to lift the ban imposed by the UK and the US, and action should be taken against the political swindlers who tried to destroy PIA for personal interests. Otherwise, he warned that damaging national assets and interests for political benefit would continue.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the ban on PIA in several countries, including Europe and America, was imposed to benefit a foreign airline whose head was a friend of the leader of a fanatic group in Pakistan.
For this purpose, the then Minister of Aviation stated in the National Assembly that the licenses of many pilots in PIA were fake, leading to a ban on the carrier.
The organization that checks airlines’ safety and performance standards also pushed the PIA rating to the lowest level. Later, the Islamabad High Court clarified that the Minister of Aviation’s statement was wrong, but no action was taken against him for harming the national interests.
During the PDM’s coalition and caretaker government, efforts were made to dilute the effects of this baseless allegation. However, it took four years to lift the ban, which caused severe damage to PIA.
The damage prompted severe efforts to sell PIA, which were stopped only when a controversial bid of only ten billion rupees was received.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that restoring the national airline’s flights in Europe will reduce this organization’s losses and open the way for improvement in other related matters.
It should be noted that flights to Britain and other European countries were the most profitable for PIA, which was sacrificed for political interests.
After restoring the national airline’s flights in Europe, he observed that the possibility of lifting the ban in Britain and the United States has also become apparent because the relevant authorities have worked tirelessly to obtain the approval of the institutions monitoring aviation standards, for which they deserve appreciation.
Mian Zahid Hussain further said that restoring PIA in Europe will positively impact the overall economic situation and create great convenience for Pakistanis living abroad, which is welcome. Still, strict measures are necessary to prevent future conspiracies that harm the country’s interests.
