‘Rs1.8bn lost due to PIA strike’

KARACHI: The national flag carrier has incurred an estimated loss amounting to Rs1.8 billion since last week, as angry employees protested against the government’s proposed plan to privatise Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), spokesperson Danyal Gilani said Thursday.
As demonstrations against privatization plans and imposition of Essential Services Maintenance Act 1952 on PIA employees continued for the third day in all major cities, the spokesman told Dawn over 150 flights have been canceled in the past three days of the strike.
Gilani said between Jan 26, when the strike was announced and Feb 2, when a demonstration outside Karachi airport turned bloody as two PIA employees were shot dead, the airline suffered a loss of Rs1 billion.