He, however, added that eighteen aircraft were added to the fleet of the PIA over the last four years and the government plans to induct more planes on dry and wet leases. He said that old A310 aircraft were being used on many closed routes which were causing "very high fuel cost."
The national flag carrier has also been rationalizing its route network under which loss making routes are being closed while additional flights are being introduced on viable routes, he said. He said the flights to the USA have been closed by the PIA since November last year due to heavy losses on this route. "On NYC route PIA has been incurring losses to the tune of Rs 1.2 billion per annum.
Therefore it will be very difficult to continue with the same further," he said, adding that every effort has been made to re-accommodate the affected passengers on PIA flights via Toronto or through partner airlines. The Parliamentary Secretary said that in aviation industry, airlines do restructure their network where loss is to be curtailed and consolidation to be made on profit making routes.
In line with industry practices, the PIA also has been rationalizing its routes network from time to time, where loss/profit making are closed/opened while additional flights are introduced on viable routes. Following is an overview of routes which were discontinued by the airline during the last five years due to heavy losses, he added.
The eight international routes that the PIA suspended include the USA, Barcelona, Mashhad, Katmandu, Bradford, Hong Kong, Amsterdam-Frankfurt and Zahedan. To another question, the House was informed the one PIA aircraft A310 has been grounded in Germany. The non-fly worthy grounded aircraft after obtaining a waiver from Civil Aviation Authority was rented to a film company based in London to shoot a film in Malta.
The flight to Malta was a non-revenue ferry (without passengers). Thereafter, there was an attempt to sell that aircraft to a museum in Leipzig, Germany during 2016 while bypassing the codal formalities ie PPRA Rules and PIA internal procedures.
The House was informed that an inquiry was held and Bernd Hildenbrand, former acting CEO PIA, was terminated and the aircraft is still property of the PIA and its sale is being processed under the relevant rules. To another question, Parliamentary Secretary Nadeem Abbas informed the House that the government is paying attention to the renovation of railways stations to providing better facilities to the passengers.
Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development Division, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said a PM Grievance Cell has been established to provide free of cost liver transplant to the patients at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad.