RAWALPINDI, Aug 24: The meeting of the PIAC Board of Directors was held here on Saturday under the chairmanship of Secretary Defence & chairman PIAC Lt. Gen. (Retd) Hamid Nawaz Khan. The meeting discussed and approved the half yearly accounts for the period end June 30, 2002. According to the report the airline had earned a pre-tax profit of Rs552 million during the first half of the current year. In the first quarter of the year, PIA had earned a pre-tax profit of Rs.1.097, million but due to slump in passenger traffic there was a loss during the second quarter, Director Finance PIA informed the Board. He added that cargo business had witnessed a rise of 30 per cent over the first quarter of the year.

The Board was informed that the war-like situation on our borders and uncertainties in the region particularly closure of Indian airspace since January 1, 2002, had resulted in the stoppage of PIA operation in regional markets adversely affecting traffic and revenue generations.

The financial restructuring and marketing strategy enabled the airline to keep abreast of all its current financial obligations and responsibilities as the airline had been able to retire short-term loans of $54 million borrowed from Citibank, the report said.