PM has ordered probe into PIA’s Paris flight advertisement: Dar

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the House in the Senate Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the controversial advertisement by the national airline regarding the launch of flights to Paris.

Responding to a calling attention notice moved by PPP Senator Sherry Rehman on the Senate floor, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that a request had been made to the prime minister during a cabinet meeting earlier in the day to initiate an independent inquiry into statements made by the former aviation minister about the PIA pilots.

Dar assured the house that the privatisation of the national carrier remains a priority. He expressed optimism that this time, the privatisation process would be successful, emphasizing that it would be conducted transparently as in the past.

He also sounded hopeful of the resumption of PIA flights to the United Kingdom by March or April, saying that a UK team was expected to arrive by the end of January for a physical assessment.

Referring to former aviation minister Sarwar Khan’s statement, Dar highlighted that Europe, the UK and the US had banned PIA flights following the minister’s controversial remarks that “our pilots are fake”. He claimed that this statement had caused an annual loss of Rs87 billion and led to the grounding of Pakistani pilots employed with international airlines. Dar recalled that the PDM government had formed a committee to address this issue, which was later revived under the PMLN government. He said that 22 of PIA’s 34 aircraft are currently operational, including six Boeings, 11 Airbuses, and five ATRs, while six Boeings and five Airbuses are under repair. “The national airline will be privatised. Pakistan’s corporate sector should take it over. Work on privatisation is progressing rapidly,” he said. Earlier, PPP Vice-President Senator Sherry Rehman, speaking on her calling attention notice, expressed concern over the grounding of PIA aircraft and the lack of clarity surrounding the airline’s privatization process. “The privatisation process of PIA remains completely unclear,” Senator Rehman said.Referring to recent advertisement for PIA’s European flights, she questioned their appropriateness, citing security concerns. “In one of the advertisements, a plane was shown heading towards the Eiffel Tower in Paris. This raised serious security concerns,” she said.