KARACHI - National carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has refuted media reports that Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) warned the carrier of halting all flights until payment of dues.
Earlier media had reported that Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) had warned PIA of halting all flights in case unpaid dues were not cleared by the national airliner before April 17.
According to the notification, PIA flights will be stopped from April 17 onwards if the dues were not paid.
However, when Online contacted PIA spokesman Mashood Tahir, he refuted the reports and said no such notification has been received.
He said that PIA is giving GACA billions of rupees business hence they would never halt our flights. Sources said that the dues owed to the Saudi aviation also include 500,000 riyals from year 2005. PIA has been suffering losses worth billions since many years and its accumulated dues have been on the rise. The national airline had recorded cumulative losses of Rs141 billion from 2002 to 2012. The PIA had also suffered financial losses to the tune of Rs401 million in Hajj operations 2012.