ISLAMABAD: Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan has said the government had no intention to sell or dispose of the iconic Roosevelt hotel in New York.

He rejected all the news items circulating in certain quarters regarding the sale of Pakistan International Airline’s Roosevelt hotel and termed it as speculation, a news release said.

Such misleading news was nothing more than political point scoring, he added.

Explaining the trajectory of PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel, a prime real estate located in the heart of Manhattan, the financial hub of the world, he said the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had acquired the 19-storey building in 1979 on partnership, from its own profits and as a part of PIA’s diversification strategy.

Later on, in 1999 it acquired 100 per cent shareholding from its own resources and without any aid from the government of Pakistan.

He said the property had more than a thousand rooms and having an area of 43,313 square feet, covering a whole city block centrally located at the heart of Manhattan area of New York.

Right after fully acquiring the hotel, the minister said the PIA undertook renovation of the hotel which led to profitability and continued till 2018.

However since 2019, the financial position of Roosevelt hotel has been in the red, despite the fact that it was run by the world’s premier Hotel Management Company ‘Interstate’, he added.