KARACHI: Adrian Hamilton Manns, chief executive of Oman's Salam Air, has been nominated as the next CEO of Pakistan International Airlines and is expected to take charge by the end of October, according to people familiar with the matter.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the nomination has not been formally announced, confirmed his selection as PIA's chief executive, saying security and other clearances are still being processed. The appointment has not yet been publicly announced.
The post would be one of the first major nominations at the airline since it passed into private hands. An Arif Habib-led consortium took over management on June 29, 2026.
Manns has led Salam Air, a Muscat-based low-cost carrier, since July 2024. He was president and CEO of Kazakhstan's Fly Arystan from April 2020 to July 2024 and founding CEO of the Africa-focused low-fare carrier flyafrica.com from 2012 to 2016. He also held senior commercial roles at IndiGo in India, South African Airways, Virgin Australia's Pacific Blue and Indonesia's Mandala Airlines, and began his career at Air New Zealand in 1997.
He describes himself as an airline turnaround specialist on his professional networking profile.
PIA struggled for decades with operational inefficiencies, an aging fleet, losses and political intervention. Manns has spent most of his career running or launching low-cost carriers, while PIA is a full-service airline.
