RAWALPINDI: A delegation of foreign experts is arriving in Pakistan on Monday (today) on the invitation of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain to work on a five-year corporate business plan for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The four-member team will stay in Pakistan for 12 days during which it will undertake a business model review and also meet government officials at the finance ministry, Dr Hussain, senior government officials and the airline’s chief executive officer, Arshad Malik.

The airline’s spokesman, Abdullah Hafeez, confirmed that the team would be reaching Pakistan on Monday.

The experts, who have an extensive consultancy experience, will devise a business plan for the airline to make it profitable and sustainable.

“We will be following the government’s directives on restructuring and reforms in the airline,” the spokesman said.

Dr Hussain is supervising the reforms underway in PIA and in this context consultants had been invited to advice on the restructuring plan for the national carrier.

In November 2019, PIA had sought services of a reputed international firm with extensive aviation consulting experience to prepare a five-year corporate business plan through a tender.

The objective was to make the PIA a leading international airline and enable it to play an important role in Pakistan’s economy.

The plan will include all proposed initiatives and strategies for organisational and financial restructuring within the relevant timelines. It will also provide a detailed forecast of the financial position, performance and cash flows under different possible/recommended scenarios. It will focus on recommendations to revise capital structure and provide a viable working plan for raising future funding requirements.

The proposed plan will also give a holistic view of PIA’s current competitive position in the industry, with focus on its sales and marketing strategy for each region, route and destination.

Restructuring options will also be suggested, and the experts will advise on the best possible strategy for each area of the airline.

The PIA will support the consultant by providing available operational and/or financial information required for the development of the corporate business plan.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority had granted special permission for inbound travel to the foreign experts from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Portugal on the request of the PIA administration.

The delegation will be travelling onboard Turkish Airlines flight as per the travel itinerary. However, this approval was subject to PCR testing, mandatory quarantine and other stipulations as specified by the health authorities upon arrival.

Pakistan has restricted the entry of inbound passengers from countries categorised C in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2021