The Pakistani government has no intention of privatising the struggling flag carrier PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) and will present a new restructuring plan for the airline by the end of March 2019, Dawn has reported.

"Privatisation of the national flag carrier is not in the manifesto of the PTI government and therefore it has initiated a reform process to overcome losses being incurred by the airline," Prime Minister Imran Khan said at a meeting devoted to the situation at the airline.

The new comprehensive plan, due by the end of March, will outline precise steps the government intends to take to rescue the carrier. Earlier, Khan indicated that the airline could receive PKR15 billion rupee (USD107 million) in loans as interim rescue aid, in addition to the freeze on loan repayments to state entities.

PIA's accumulated losses exceeded PKR414 billion rupees (USD3.0 billion) as of January 1, 2019. Recently, the new CEO Arshad Mahmood Malik said that it would be easier to launch a new carrier than to try to revive the flag carrier.