Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation following criticism over a Pakistan International Airline advert showing a plane flying towards the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
The national carrier had advertised its resumption of flights to Europe in Janu, starting with Paris, after the EU aviation regulator lifted a ban on it.
The airline’s authorisation to operate in the EU was suspended in 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani civil aviation authorities to ensure compliance with global standards. The suspension came after Islamabad began investigating a scandal over the validity of pilot licences in the wake of a plane crash that killed 97 people.
The advert showed a civilian aircraft flying towards the Eiffel Tower with the caption declaring: “Paris, we’re coming today”. The unfortunate resemblance of the poster with the 11 September 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, US, drew criticism on social media.
Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, called the advert “stupidity” and said the prime minister had ordered an investigation. “The prime minister has directed to investigate who conceived this ad,” he told a parliament session.
He also expressed concern about the caption, reported.
Omar Quraishi, a former political media adviser, said he was “truly speechless” that the advert was approved. “Did the airline management not vet this?” he asked on X.
“Is this advertisement or threat,” asked an X user. “I guess you are going for no publicity is bad publicity,” said another person.
The US suffered its worst terrorist attack when terrorists crashed passenger jets into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington DC, killing nearly 3,000 people.
The alleged mastermind of the attack, al Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. The leader of Al Qaeda at the time, Osama bin Laden, was killed in a 2011 American milit operation in Pakistan.
