Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive

KARACHI — Passengers landing at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi are greeted by a grim sight on arrival: the graveyard of out-of-service planes that once flew the skies for debt-strapped national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

“I do my best to avoid taking a PIA flight,” said finance professional Asif Waleed, who regularly takes the two-hour trip between the coastal commercial hub and Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. “I have a high degree of confidence that [their] flights never operate on time.”