It started off strange enough. Nearly two weeks ago, a consortium led by Blue World City, the controversial housing society on the outskirts of Rawalpindi, has become the first and only entity to qualify for bidding in the sale of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).Â
Of the six consortiums that were in the running, this was the unlikeliest to emerge as the only contender. Of these six different consortiums pre-approved to bid for PIA, four different airlines were involved including FlyJinnah, AirSial, AirBlue, and Serene Air. However, all five of the consortiums other than the one led by Blue World City have stayed away from the process.Â
The Blue World consortium was the least experienced when it comes to the aviation business, although it does include Blue World Aviation, owned by the same family, as well as IRIS Communications Limited.Â
Immediately it became clear something was off. Profit reached out to representatives from FlyJinnah, AirSial, and Arif Habib for an answer. All of the individuals contacted declined to answer on the record. One significant bidder did say they weren’t speaking now because even though Blue World had seemingly become the only contender, the competition was far from over.Â
This became clear in only a few days. The Blue World consortium made a Rs 10 billion bid for a 65% share in PIA, only for the government to demand Rs 85 billion in comparison. Since then, the matter has gone back to cabinet which will deliberate on whether to accept the over or go back to the drawing board. So what happens now? The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
