Pakistan PM Sharif orders probe after PIA's Paris ad stokes controversy
Pakistan | South Asia: A few days back, the PIA shared a post on X that it was resuming flights from Islamabad to Paris on January 10. The photo accompanying the post triggered massive backlash.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation after the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) published an advertisement about its trip to Paris which evoked imagery of the 9/11 attacks.
According to a report by The Guardian early Thursday (Jan 16), Pakistani Minister Ishaq Dar called the PIA's advertisement "stupidity" and confirmed that PM Sharif has directed a probe into the scandal.
“The prime minister has directed [authorities] to investigate who conceived this ad,” Minister Dar said.
A look at the controversial advertisment
A few days back, the PIA shared a post on X that it was resuming flights from Islamabad to Paris from January 10.
Though the post just meant a travel route update, the photo accompanying the details evoked massive controversy.
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Also read | 'Info or warning?': Pakistan International Airlines' Eiffel Tower ad draws 9/11 comparisons
The photo depicted a PIA aircraft headed towards the Eiffel Tower with the tagline “Paris, we’re coming today.”
Users on X were quick to criticise the image, saying it resembled the attacks of September 11, 2001, when planes struck the Twin Towers in New York.
The advertisement has still not been taken down by the PIA.
Omar Quraishi, a former political media adviser, said on X that he was “truly speechless” that the advert had been approved. “Did the airline management not vet this?” he said.
Not the first time PIA has made headlines
This was not the first time that the PIA has made headlines. Recently, the airline was banned by the European Union (EU) for over four years after it emerged that nearly a third of its pilots had cheated in their exams and failed to follow safety procedures.
In 2017, the company attracted scandal after PIA staff members sacrificed a goat on the tarmac for good luck.
(With inputs from agencies)