The Privatization Commission announced a one-month extension to the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) bidding date, now scheduled for October 31, 2024.
Subsequently, the deadline to sign the draft agreement has been adjusted to October 25, 2024, and the due date for submitting advance payments has shifted to October 28, 2024. This unexpected extension has caught companies interested in acquiring PIA off guard.
Aviation experts have expressed concern that this delay could adversely affect privatization.
While the Privatization Commission has not specified reasons for the sudden change, the initial deadline for advance deposits was September 27, 2024.
Read: Pakistan Selects Six Companies to Bid for PIA Privatization
Despite these adjustments, all necessary preparations for the bidding were reportedly complete for the original deadline of October 1.
A consortium of six private entities, Blue World City, Air Blue, Arif Habib, Fly Jinnah, Pak Ethanol, and YB Holdings, remains in contention for PIA’s privatization.
