Talking to party supporters in New York, the PML-N president said, "Maryam said that we should buy PIA and name it ‘Air Punjab’ after making it the best airline."

Nawaz said that Maryam had suggested to him to purchase the PTI.

However, Nawaz said, he had advised his daughter that she could start a new airline that would serve destinations across the globe. "I believe discussions have taken place regarding this matter," he noted.

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He maintained, "I told Maryam to have consultations around it. I told her that you can buy the PIA and also establish a new airline too and that Air Punjab should go from Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi to New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and every part of the world. I believe a discussion is taking place on this."

On the occasion, Nawaz also blamed former premier Imran Khan’s government precarious situation of the the national carrier, saying that then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar had said that PIA pilots don’t have the required licenses.

He said, "I am aggrieved at the destruction of the PIA and those who did so are amongst us. The Imran s cabinet minister Ghulam Sarwar said the pilots don t have the licenses. Can you imagine the damage caused? That was not true to start with but even if it was, should such a thing have been said publicly?"

Earlier, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government expressed its desire to buy the PIA through a bid exceeding Rs10 billion that has been a minimal bid for the national flag carrier.

Last Thursday, the Privatisation Commission decided to again conduct the bidding process for the nationa flag carrier after attracting only a Rs10 billion bid against the valuation of Rs85 billion from Blue World City Consortium.