Islamabad:

ReNews Reporter

The federal government has issued a clear clarification that the ongoing privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines is limited strictly to the airline’s core aviation operations and does not include its overseas real estate or other non core assets. Officials confirmed that the Roosevelt Hotel in New York and the Scribe Hotel in Paris have been explicitly excluded from the current privatisation and auction framework and that no change to their ownership or legal status is under consideration at this stage.

According to government sources, the privatisation mandate focuses solely on aviation related functions, including flight operations, fleet structure, route management, service delivery, and associated commercial responsibilities. By contrast, PIA’s real estate holdings have been deliberately segregated into a separate asset category, a move officials say is intended to preserve clarity, transparency, and institutional focus throughout the privatisation process.

Officials said PIA’s real estate portfolio extends well beyond its overseas hotel properties. It includes land parcels in multiple cities, commercial buildings, office premises, reserve plots, residential units, guest houses, and land attached to engineering and technical facilities, as well as auxiliary properties located near certain airports. None of these assets, they stressed, have been offered for sale or auction under the current privatisation framework.

Although official privatisation documents do not assign valuation figures to these properties, market based assessments cited in previous years have placed the estimated value of the Roosevelt Hotel at one billion dollars or more. The Scribe Hotel in Paris has commonly been valued by market analysts at between four hundred and five hundred million dollars. Government officials underlined that these figures represent external market estimates rather than any formal or approved state valuation.

Officials further stated that any future decision regarding PIA’s real estate assets would be pursued independently of the airline’s privatisation, through a separate policy process requiring distinct approvals and cabinet level authorisation. For now, the government has drawn a firm line, confirming that PIA’s real estate portfolio, including its high profile overseas hotels, is neither part of the current auction process nor included in the privatisation exercise.