Govt. fails to return national flag carrier loans

KABUL): The High Oversight Office and Anti-Corruption (HOOA) said on Sunday the Ariana Afghan Airlines would collapse if government institutions did not repay its loans.

Addressing Sunday’s session of the Wolesi Jirga, or lower house of Parliament, the HOOA director said some government departments had failed to return $9 million (443 million afghanis) in loans to the airline during the first six months of the last year.

But Azizullah Ludin did not give further details in this regard. He said that the airline had been facing administrative problems which he had already discussed them with President Hamid Karzai.

Head of the state-run airline, Nasir Ahmad Hakimi, also blamed some government organs for failing to repay the loans. Ariana Afghan Airlines currently operates flights to Pakistan, Iran, India, the United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, China and Turkey

However, the national flag carrier is not allowed for reasons of quality to operate flight to European countries.

frm/mud