PIA Loses $78 Million from Delayed Aircraft Maintenance

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has incurred a financial loss of PKR 21.8 billion (USD 78.2 million) due to delayed maintenance of its aircraft over the past decade, according to a recent Auditor General’s report.

The audit, which has been widely reported in Pakistani media but is not available online, indicates that PIA was aware of maintenance inefficiencies as early as 2012. Despite this awareness, successive management teams failed to address the issues, leading to extended ground times for aircraft. Some planes were parked for much longer than necessary for required maintenance checks.

PIA attributed these delays to its ongoing financial crisis, which has hindered timely maintenance payments. However, the airline did not provide detailed explanations to the Auditor General.

The ch-aviation fleets module shows that PIA’s current fleet includes seventeen A320-200s (six grounded), three ATR42-500s (two grounded), six B777-200ERs (three grounded), two B777-200(LR)s (one grounded), and four B777-300(ER)s (two grounded).

The Pakistani government aims to privatize PIA by the end of the year, hoping to address its financial and operational challenges.

Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com, ch-aviation.com