Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), once a symbol of national pride and a global aviation trailblazer, has travelled a long arc from innovation and record-setting performance to deep financial distress and eventual privatisation.

Founded on the directive of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the airline’s roots trace back to Orient Airways, established in Kolkata on October 23, 1946.

Financed by prominent businessmen including Mirza Ahmad Ispahani and Adamjee Haji Dawood, it was the first and only Muslim-owned airline in the subcontinent at the time.

After Pakistan’s independence, PIA was set up as a state-owned entity in 1951.

On March 11, 1955, Orient Airways was merged into it, forming Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC).

That same year, PIA launched its first international flight from Karachi to London via Cairo and Rome.

The airline’s golden era is widely associated with the leadership of former Pakistan Air Force chief Air Marshal Nur Khan, who headed PIA in two separate tenures.

Aviation experts credit this period with transforming the carrier into one of Asia’s and the world’s leading airlines.

Nur Khan is also remembered for personally negotiating with a hijacker on board an aircraft to avert a crisis.

During its first decade, PIA achieved several global firsts.

In 1960, it became Asia’s first airline to operate jet aircraft, launching Boeing 707 services on the Dhaka-Karachi-London route.

Two years later, it set a world record by completing a London-Karachi flight in six hours and 43 minutes, a benchmark that still stands.

The same year, PIA began flights to New York, significantly expanding its international profile.

PIA also provided technical and managerial assistance to several foreign carriers, including Air China, Air Malta, Philippine Airlines, Somali Airlines and Yemenia.

In 1964, it became the first airline from a non-communist country to operate commercial flights to China.

It later played a technical and advisory role in the establishment of Emirates airline in 1985.

By the 1960s and 1970s, PIA consistently ranked among the world’s top 10 airlines.

It was known for punctuality, service quality and a modern fleet.

Its slogan, “Great People to Fly With,” became globally recognised, reportedly inspired by remarks made by former US first lady Jacqueline Kennedy after flying with the airline in 1962.

PIA was also an industry innovator. It was the first airline to introduce regular in-flight movie screenings, commissioned renowned French designer Pierre Cardin to design cabin crew uniforms, and was among the earliest in Asia to computerise its reservation system.

At its peak, the airline’s network stretched from Tokyo to New York and from Africa to Europe, with promotional claims that a PIA flight took off or landed somewhere in the world every seven minutes.

The decline set in during the 1990s and deepened after 2000.

Analysts cite political interference, overstaffing, labour union pressures and an ageing fleet as key factors.

The Gulf War in 1991 marked the airline’s first major annual loss, while by 2000 the government had to extend a Rs20 billion bailout.

By the end of 2024, PIA’s total liabilities had reportedly ballooned to around Rs830 billion, forcing the airline to rely heavily on repeated government bailouts.

The situation worsened in 2020 after a Karachi plane crash led to revelations about suspicious pilot licences, prompting flight bans by the European Union, the UK and the United States.

Although those restrictions were later lifted, the airline suffered billions of rupees in losses.

The long-running crisis reached a turning point on Tuesday when the Arif Habib Group-led consortium won the privatisation bid for PIA with an offer of Rs135 billion, narrowly beating the Lucky Cement-led consortium’s Rs134 billion bid.

The final bids were opened in Islamabad in the presence of government officials, consortium representatives and the media, concluding a staged and publicly televised process for the sale of a 75% stake in the national carrier.

For an airline that once set global benchmarks, the privatisation marks the end of an era — and the beginning of a new chapter shaped by private ownership.