KARACHI, Oct 5: Tariq Kirmani, Chairman and CEO of PIA, inaugurated a two-day corporate marketing conference here on Wednesday. According to a PIA press release, all senior vice-presidents of PIA and general managers and managers from global PIA network were present on the occasion.

Speaking at the conference, Mr Kirmani said he would focus on the future of PIA and in order to set the national carrier in that direction it had become extremely important to go through the process of internal and external scanning.

He said while competition was growing, PIA was slipping away from competition. “When you slip away from competition you slip away from business, and ultimately it dies,” he cautioned.

“Our business is flying planes and to ensure that these planes are well maintained and flying safely. Then we need passengers for them to make our business successful,” he added.

He said PIA airplanes had an average fleet age of 20 years, compared to Singapore Airlines that had an average fleet age of seven years.—APP