Pakistan’s Prime Minister on Tuesday ordered an investigation into how the country’s national airline approved an advertisement that many on social media compared to imagery from the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, as reported by The New York Times.
The ad, by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), was meant to announce the resumption of flights to Paris but sparked outrage after featuring an image of an aircraft heading toward the Eiffel Tower with the caption, “Paris, we’re coming today.” The post, shared by the airline on X, has been viewed over 21 million times.
Pakistan has historical connections to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, accused of being the mastermind of the attacks, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011.
The country’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, stated during a session of Parliament that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had ordered an inquiry into how the advertisement passed internal airline approvals, the report said.
The controversy surrounding the ad marks another setback for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which has been struggling with financial losses amid ongoing efforts by the government to privatize the airline.
Controversy is not new for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). In 2017, the airline made international headlines when ground crew members sacrificed a goat on the tarmac for good luck.