Amir Hayat ends tenure as PIA Holding Company CEO

Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Muhammad Amir Hayat is no longer the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PIA Holding Company Limited (PIAHCL), effective from December 9, 2024.

The listed company shared the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday.

“We have to inform you that upon completion of deputation tenure from Pakistan Air Force to Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL)/PIA Holding Company Limited (PIAHCL), AVM Muhammad Amir Hayat has ceased to be the Chief Executive Officer of PIAHCL w.e.f. December 09, 2024” read the notice.

PIAHCL is a public limited company currently majority-owned by the Government of Pakistan (GoP).

The company was established to succeed in specified assets, liabilities, and subsidiaries of PIACL, including specific business, property, rights, liabilities, and obligations of PIACL.

The development comes days after the Board of Directors of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Corporation Limited appointed Khurram Mushtaq as the acting CEO of the national carrier, following the end of AVM Amir Hayat’s tenure.

The appointment of Mushtaq, one of the company’s senior executives as acting CEO, came as the company prepares for the resumption of European flights following the lifting of a ban.

AVM Amir Hayat was appointed last year as CEO of PIA for one year, as the then government planned to privatise the loss-making state-owned enterprise (SOE), which has accumulated hundreds of billions of rupees in losses and arrears.

PIA privatisation has been a subject of concern for authorities in Islamabad, which were offering a stake of between 51% and 100% in the debt-ridden airline as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with which it has an ongoing 37-month, $7-billion bailout.

However, after much delay, the government received only one bid i.e. from Blue World Consortium for a 60% stake in PIA, offering Rs10 billion against the Privatization Commission’s minimum price of Rs85 billion.

The government rejected the bid and decided to go for another round of privatisation.