Despite facing a severe financial crisis, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has recently hired staff in the United Kingdom (UK). The national flag carrier is currently subject to a three-year ban on direct flights to the UK. Despite these financial challenges and the flight ban, PIA has appointed officers and employees with high salaries.
The PIA country manager is set to receive an annual salary of £70,000, while the passenger sales manager and finance manager will be earning £55,000 each. Additionally, a manager has been appointed at the Manchester station with an annual salary of £55,000, along with other perks.
A PIA spokesperson mentioned that the airline has been operating flights in the UK through code sharing with Turkish Airlines, generating an annual income of £14 million. The spokesperson also pointed out that only 1.8% of these earnings are allocated to PIA staff in the UK.
Furthermore, the spokesperson indicated that Pakistan-UK direct flight operations will resume soon, and the appointments of the country manager and sales managers were made in anticipation of the early restoration of these direct flights.
In related news, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) took action by freezing the accounts of PIA due to the airline's non-payment of over Rs 8 billion in taxes. A total of 26 bank accounts belonging to the national carrier have been frozen by the FBR