Pakistan PM orders investigation after PIA's social media post on flight to Paris drew parallels to 9/11

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif orders investigation into Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) insensitive social media post celebrating resumed Europe flights, which sparked outrage and drew parallels to 9/11 attacks.

Islamabad: Following a controversial social media post by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) celebrating resumption of flights to Europe after a four-year gap, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation. The post featured an image of a PIA plane heading nosediving into the Eiffel Tower with the caption "Paris, we are coming today", sparking widespread ridicule and outrage. Critics drew parallels with the 9/11 terror attacks, finding the visual insensitive and disturbing.

Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar condemned the post, calling it "stupidity" and expressing concerns over the accompanying caption. The post garnered over 21.2 million views before facing severe backlash. 

The tweet, which was posted on the airline's X (formerly Twitter) handle, sent the internet buzzing and drew parallels to an old PIA ad that showed the shadow of a plane ominously cast over the Twin Towers. The unfortunate imagery sparked a flurry of sarcastic comments and jokes, with many users questioning the airline's marketing strategy.

The airline has previously made headlines for allegedly allowing an overbooked passenger to fly standing in the aisle, sacrificing a black goat at Islamabad Airport for good luck, and leaving a passenger stranded at a layover airport while the flight took off without them.

Despite the controversy, PIA's flight PK 749 to Paris landed successfully at Charles de Gaulle Airport, thereby becoming the first direct flight from Pakistan to France in more than four years. The passengers and crew received a warm welcome at the airport.

The four-year hiatus was due to a ban on PIA by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) after a 2020 scandal regarding issues with the validity of some PIA pilots' licenses. This scandal was triggered by a PIA crash in Karachi that claimed 97 lives.