India, Dec. 24 -- Pakistan on Tuesday successfully organised the privatisation process of the national flag-carrier, selling it at Rs135 billion to a consortium led by a local investment company. The ceremony to privatise the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was held in Islamabad where all three pre-qualified parties, including Lucky Cement, private airline Airblue and investment firm Arif Habib, deposited their sealed bids into a transparent box.

The bids were opened in the second phase of the ceremony, where Arif Habib emerged the highest bidder, offering Rs115 billion, followed by Lucky Cement with Rs105.5 billion and Airblue with Rs26.5 billion to buy the airline. After the bid had been opened, the Government announced that the ...