The grounding of 15 Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircrafts at the Karachi airport has led to disruption in the air operation.

These planes have being grounded due to non-immediate payment of interest and parts, reflecting the financial woes faced by the national airline.

PIA has assured that they would be back in the air once payments were made.

The shortage of aircraft has disrupted domestic flight operations, causing inconvenience to passengers.

Notably, two-way flights from Karachi to Rahim Yar Khan have been canceled, while flight PK368 from Karachi to Islamabad is experiencing delays.

Moreover, flight PK303K from Karachi to Multan, originally scheduled for the afternoon, has been rescheduled for the evening.

PIA is desperately seeking funds to maintain its flight operations, but the situation has left its employees without their due salaries.

The financial constraints have also led to a delay in the release of these salaries, creating a challenging situation for both the airline and its workforce.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Wednesday unfreezed the accounts of the loss-making Pakistan International Airline (PIA).

PIA is to make FBR a massive payment of Rupees 2.5 billion out of the pending 8 billion amount.

A week ago, FBR had frozen all bank accounts of PIA for non-payment of federal excise duty.

Following which, the airline started facing severe financial difficulties including the delay in employee salaries.

PIA is currently facing a severe financial crisis, resulting in the cancellation of several domestic and international flights.

The airline’s inability to settle dues with Pakistan State Oil (PSO) for fuel supply has led to this precarious situation.

The country’s national flag carrier, grappling with a major debt burden earlier lead to delay in flights from Karachi-Muscat, Karachi to Faisalabad, Islamabad and Lahore, and Karachi to Turbat, Bahawalpur.

Amid the haphazard situation, PIA has approached the federal government for quick funds.

PIA resorted to ground several aircraft as it struggles to secure funds to maintain its operations for the next few months, during which time its core functions and non-core assets are expected to be put up for sale.