Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced its financial results for 2020 by presenting audited accounts to the Pakistan Stock Exchange. The result shows that PIA had operational losses of Rs 680 million in 2020, which were Rs 6.130 billion in 2019. It is 33.7% less than in the previous year and it is a great achievement by PIA.
But the report also shows that PIA achieved revenue of Rs 94.989 billion, down from Rs 147 billion achieved in 2019, the main reason for this was COVID restrictions affecting all PIA routes, reducing overall operations by almost half.
The pandemic that hit the sector in March 2020 saw almost paralyze all operations, national and international, for months, which only began to be partially resumed from July.
However, July also saw the EASA ban imposed on PIA, which hit one of the longest routes in the UK and Europe. Moreover, Umrah and Haj’s flights also impacted PIA’s revenues.
The national airline responded by focusing on special charter flights, repatriation, and relief flights that helped it maintain its position in the market and generate valuable revenue from alternative sources, which made COVID and the ban on revenue-related bites much smoother than initially anticipated.
During 2020, PIA oversaw a series of reforms, such as cutting loss-making units, such as Speedex, and reducing loss-making routes, and reducing costs, without compromising service reliability and standards.
The airline’s management also renegotiated loan rescheduling with financial institutions and also renegotiated lease payments for high-lease aircraft acquired in the past.
PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad expressed his satisfaction with the financial results and acknowledged the team’s effort developed by PIA and also the support provided to it by all interested parties, including the government of Pakistan.
Moreover, He said that the PIA is making every effort to address and deal with the Covid-19 scenario and, although the outlook remains challenging in 2021, it is expected that, with “government support, Pakistani customers and dedication from PIA employees, we can emerge stronger than before. “
The test times will also soon be over and the strength gained by PIA from the reforms, restructuring, and financial discipline will bear fruit in the near future.
