PIA apologises for controversial Paris flight ad

ISLAMABAD: Days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an inquiry into a controversial post by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on its official X handle, celebrating the resumption of Europe flights after a four-year hiatus, the national flag carrier on Friday extended an apology in this regard.

The image posted by state-owned PIA to social media showed a plane aimed at the French landmark with the caption “Paris, we’re coming today”. In thousands of comments online, users drew comparisons with the 2001 attacks on New York’s Twin Towers, when two planes were hijacked and flown into the skyscrapers, killing nearly 3,000. “Unfortunately, this was blown out of proportion with connotation and perceptions that were not intended,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan told AFP.

“It might have triggered some negative emotion, for which we truly apologise.” He said there were around 60,00 to 70,000 negative reactions online, or less than 10% of engagement. “Is this (an) advertisement or threat?” said one post under the advert, which has not been taken down. “I’d have a word with your marketing department on this one chief,” said another. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the prime minister had ordered an inquiry into the advert which “shows stupidity”. But Abdullah said the response to PIA’s return to Europe has been “extremely positive”, with flights so far operating at more than 95% capacity.

Debt-ridden PIA was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a Karachi street, killing nearly 100 people. The disaster was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control, and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the licences for its pilots were fake or dubious.

In 2016, a PIA plane burst into flames after one of its two turboprop engines failed during a flight from the remote north to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people. In November, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced it had lifted the ban, however it remains barred from flying in the UK and the United States.

At the time, it said it had “re-established sufficient confidence” in the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority’s oversight capabilities. The airline flies to multiple cities inside Pakistan, including the mountainous north, as well as to the Gulf and Southeast Asia.