The bidding process for Pakistan's national airline has been postponed to October 31, according to two government officials from the Ministry of Privatisation. Initially, a parliamentary committee on privatisation had been informed that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would be auctioned off on Tuesday. However, the officials stated that the bidding has been delayed by another month at the request of the bidders, who needed additional time to prepare for the auction. These officials spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release the information before an official announcement regarding the delay. A spokesperson for the privatisation ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Six entities have been pre-qualified for the bidding, including 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. The Pakistani government has previously indicated that it plans to sell between 51-100% of the financially struggling airline as part of reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).