CM Maryam Suggests Her Father to Buy and Rebrand PIA as Air Punjab

Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz has sought her father Nawaz Sharif’s assistance in saving the national flag carrier from decline by acquiring it and potentially rebranding it as a carrier for the provincial government. Sources said the former Prime Minister has advised his daughter to arrange further consultations on the matter. It has been suggested that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) could be bought by the Sharif family and rebranded by the Punjab government as ‘Air Punjab’, sources added. “Maryam said that we should buy PIA and name it ‘Air Punjab’ after making it the best airline,” Nawaz said during a discussion in New York with party supporters. The current highest bid to acquire PIA stands at Rs. 10 billion which was made by real estate developer Blue World City. Earlier this week, Blue World City made a bid of Rs. 10 billion to acquire a majority share in PIA against the government’s reserve price of Rs. 85 billion. The real estate developer was given 30 minutes to meet the reserve price but it refused to up its bid. On Friday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade (KP-BOIT) Friday express its interest in participating in the bidding process for the sale of PIA.