PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) will lose a valuable stream of hard currency after New York Mayor Eric Adams said the city will close its asylum arrival centre and emergency relief shelter at the PIA-owned Roosevelt Hotel. The three-year deal was worth USD220 million to the airline, which regularly experiences hard currency shortages.
New York City signed the deal in May 2023, when it was receiving 4,000 immigrants per week. The city processed around 75% of those within the hotel. Adams said on X this week that the facility would close within "the coming months." PIA has owned the hotel since 2005. Figures associated with the Trump administration have recently criticised using US taxpayer funds to house asylum seekers.
State-owned PIA owns the hotel through a holding company, PIA Investment Limited. For years, including while the deal with New York City was ongoing, there have been on-again, off-again talks about selling or redeveloping the Roosevelt Hotel. Early last year, Pakistan's then-caretaker government signed a USD7.8 million agreement with a US consortium led by Jones Lang LaSalle Americas to assist with developing or selling the site. At the same time, the government was working on a privatisation plan for PIA and other state-owned entities.
The current Pakistani government, elected last year, is continuing the pro-privatisation push promoted by previous administrations. However, like PIA, and despite the skills and resources Jones Lang LaSalle brings to the table, the Roosevelt Hotel has failed to sell or lock in a redevelopment partner.
ch-aviation has contacted PIA Pakistan International Airlines for comment.
