Pakistan's state-owned airline, Pakistan International Airlines, plagued by a history of deadly crashes and a pilot licence scandal, resumed flights to Paris on Friday after EU regulators lifted a four-year ban.
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, with allegations that nearly a third of its pilot licences 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.
Against this background, we observe PIA’s post on X announcing its arrival to Parisians.
Borrowing a page from ‘How not to advertise an airline 101’, the post proclaims “Paris, we are coming today.” The accompanying image depicts the nose of a PIA aircraft heading straight for the Eiffel Tower.
Considering how attached Parisians are to their Eiffel Tower, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more fear-inducing image.
Given the sensitive nature of air travel and the historical context surrounding PIA, the post is, at best, a case of seriously bad judgment or, at worst, deliberately provocative messaging.
Social media lit up with users finding the post not only inappropriate but also a poor reflection of the airline's branding strategy. Ya think?
Online discussions referred to a previously unsettling PIA advertisement that controversially featured a shadow of an airplane ominously cast over the Twin Towers.
The tweet sparked outrage among social media users, who viewed it tasteless.
No word on booking trends.
