ISLAMABAD – Loss-making Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) moved under new private ownership and is undergoing a massive restructuring programme, and there is speculation circulating online that the new owners of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) could sell the airline’s iconic overseas properties, including New York’s Roosevelt Hotel and Paris’ Scribe Hotel, to repay debt. However, official privatization documents tell a different story.
Privatization Commission documents show that Roosevelt Hotel, Scribe Hotel and dozens of other high-value properties were not transferred to the buyers under PIA’s privatization deal. Instead, these assets remain with Pakistan International Airlines Holding Company Limited (PIAHCL), the government-owned holding company created to retain the airline’s non-core assets and legacy liabilities.
According to the documents, PIAHCL retained 36 domestic and overseas properties after 11 assets formed part of the privatization transaction. The retained portfolio spans Pakistan, the US and France, and includes the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, the Scribe Hotel in Paris, the Avant Hotel in Karachi, sales offices, warehouses, a farmhouse, housing colonies and hundreds of acres of land.
The records also show that seven additional properties, including PIA Planetariums in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar, the Jahangir Sports Complex and Football Ground in Karachi, the Dayal Singh Mansion office in Lahore and Plot No. 57 in Islamabad’s Blue Area, were transferred to PIAHCL through gazette notification SRO 475(I)/2026 issued on March 4, 2026. The Blue Area plot alone is estimated to be worth around Rs12 billion.
The privatization package included only 11 properties, comprising booking and sales offices in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Quetta, along with overseas properties in Mumbai, New Delhi, Amsterdam, Tashkent and New York. Domestic assets were valued in Pakistani rupees, while foreign properties were assessed in their respective local currencies.
The source of the online speculation appears to be one provision in the privatization documents saying the assets retained by PIAHCL may be utilized to settle the holding company’s outstanding liabilities. That means the government could choose to monetize some of these assets, through a sale, lease, redevelopment or another transaction, to cut debt. However, the documents do not mentined that such assets have been put up for sale or that the new owners of the privatized airline have the authority to dispose of them.
PIAHCL was established to house PIA’s non-core assets and legacy debt, while the airline’s operational business was separated to facilitate privatization. As a result, ownership of retained assets such as the Roosevelt and Scribe hotels remains outside the control of the privatized airline.
Pakistan government is targeting sale of its remaining 25% stake in PIA during the current fiscal year, with expected proceeds of around Rs45 billion, according to the privatization documents.
PIA officially comes under control of PIA Equity Ltd, a special-purpose vehicle of the Arif Habib-led consortium, following the completion of all required regulatory approvals. Rs180 billion transaction forms part of the government’s privatization programme aimed at reviving the loss-making airline. Under the deal, Rs55 billion will go to the government, while Rs125 billion will be injected into PIA to fund restructuring, fleet modernization, route expansion and service improvements.
The consortium comprises Arif Habib Group, Fatima Fertiliser Company, Fauji Fertiliser Company, Lake City Holdings, The City School and AKD Group Holdings.
Earlier this year, Arif Habib-led consortium secured the deal after submitting the highest bid of Rs135 billion, narrowly surpassing the Lucky Group consortium’s Rs134 billion offer.
