After the European Union imposed a four-year ban on flying to Europe, Pakistan's state airline Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on January 10 that it would resume operations in the old continent with a flight to Paris.
The company, which had been under scrutiny by Brussels for various security issues, accidents, sacrificing goats on runways as a gesture of good luck, and scandals related to pilot licenses, celebrated the news with a controversial image that went viral on social media because it evoked memories of September 11 in the United States, when three planes piloted by Al Qaeda terrorists crashed into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
In the image, published in X to announce the resumption of direct flights to Paris from Islamabad, a PIA plane is seen approaching the Eiffel Tower with the English text: "Paris, we are coming today".
After the publication spread on social media, many internet users quickly recalled another ad from 1979 by this airline that seemed to foreshadow this one, showing a Boeing 747 casting a shadow over the Twin Towers.
"After a sabbatical year, PIA will resume its flights to Paris, France, starting January 10, 2025. Enjoy a hassle-free travel experience with shorter travel times, unbeatable fares, and hospitality that will remind you of home," read a second promotional post that the airline posted on X. But the controversy was already underway.
This week, after all the uproar sparked inside and outside of Pakistan by the controversial ad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation to uncover how the national airline of his country approved an ad with an illustration that reminded many of the images of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
This issue is sensitive in Pakistan because this country has some connections to the terrorist attack in the United States. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, accused of being the mastermind behind the attacks, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003. Osama bin Laden, the then leader of Al Qaeda, was also killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in 2011.