Shaheen Air International (Karachi International) officially announced its closure and said it will shortly file for bankruptcy, the Daily Times has reported.
Director (HR) Shaheen Air Imran Aziz informed the employees of the development on February 8, 2019, saying that from that moment onwards he will be personally responsible for all staff members' claims. Some employees have not been paid for as much as eight months as the airline undertook repeated attempts to resume operations.
At the same time, Aziz told the staff that Javed and Ehsan Sehbai, the airline top executives and members of the founding Sehbai family, are no longer in any way connected to the bankrupt carrier.
Shaheen Air has been dormant since October 2018, when it was grounded by the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority (PkCAA) after months of on-off activity amid the ongoing discussion related to the carrier's tax debts. The total tax debt incurred by the carrier amounts to PKR1.36 billion rupees (USD9.7 million) while its total debts could reach up to PKR18 billion rupees (USD129 million).
The carrier's Chairman Kashif Mehmud Sehbai and CEO Ehsan Sehbai have reportedly fled Pakistan to evade impending prosecution.
The airline has been courting an unnamed "Saudi Prince" for investment but the deal ultimately did not materialise.
