Minister for Aviation and Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique said on Sunday that a contract had been signed with the New York City government to operate the renowned Roosevelt Hotel of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) situated in New York (USA) for three years.
In a press conference held at Allama Iqbal International Airport here, he said that a revenue of US$220 million would come to the country as a result of the agreement.
Giving details of the agreement, he said that 1025 rooms of the hotel would be handed over to the City government for three years and the initial earnings from the hotel had started pouring in.
He said that under the agreement, one-year business was guaranteed; however, he expressed his hope that the hotel business would continue for all three years. He said that there were several issues involved in the Roosevelt case, like the hotel was at risk of being declared a landmark after which the building would be unable to be altered. However, now the danger had subsided for at least three years, he added.
The minister said that earlier the hotel had been closed since the COVID-19 period, and an amount of $25 million were being spent on the closed building and $20 million were pending as the liability.
He said that 479 employees were working in the hotel, which was a big number and it was difficult for the hotel to terminate them from jobs due to the US labour laws. However, now after the agreement, this number would be decreased to 77 at the end of the contract period, he added. He thanked the New York city government for its cooperation.
Regarding the outsourcing of the airports, the minister said that three international airports including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad were being outsourced and made it clear that outsourcing did not mean privatisation.—APP
