Pakistan delays bidding for national airline to Oct 31

ISLAMABAD :The bidding for Pakistan’s national airline has been delayed to Oct. 31, a spokesman for the privatisation ministry said on Tuesday.
A Pakistani parliamentary committee of privatisation had earlier been informed that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would go under the hammer on Tuesday.
The spokesman said the bidding will now take place on Oct. 31 and the date has been approved by the ministry.
Two officials at the ministry had earlier told Reuters that bidding was delayed because the bidders had wanted more time to evaluate terms and conditions for the auction.
Six parties have been pre-qualified for the bidding, which included Fly Jinnah, Airblue Ltd, a consortium led by Pak Ethanol (Pvt) Ltd, a consortium led by YB Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, Arif Habib Corporation Ltd and Blue World City.
Pakistan’s government has previously said it would sell between 51-100 per cent of the loss-making airline as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).