"Paris. We're coming today."
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) faced backlash for its “tone deaf” advert announcing direct flights to Paris.
Pakistan’s national airline resumed flights to Europe on January 10, 2025, following a four-year safety ban.
On social media, it announced: “Resuming flights between Islamabad and Paris from January 10, 2025.”
The graphic featured a PIA aircraft over France’s national flag.
However, the advert ended up being a massive blunder as the aircraft appeared to be flying into the Eiffel Tower.
Things were made worse by text that read:
“Paris. We’re coming today.”
The advert was heavily criticised for its design, which reminded social media users of the September 11 attacks that saw nearly 3,000 people killed.
Omar R Quraishi, a PR expert and former adviser to politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, branded the campaign “completely tone deaf” and tweeted:
“Did the idiot who designed this graphic not see a PIA plane heading for the Eiffel Tower?
“One of Europe’s iconic landmarks. Do they not know about the 9/11 tragedy – which used planes to attack buildings? Did they not think that this would be perceived in similar fashion?”
— PIA (@Official_PIA) January 10, 2025
Another baffled person wrote: “Did no one learn product placement?! PIA, this doesn’t look like what you think it looks like!”
Criticising PIA’s marketing department, one said:
“PIA designer selected this one over other designs. How bad [were those] other designs?”
Wondering why this was posted, a comment read:
“No way the official page thought this was a good idea. Fire your marketing department.”
One had advice for the airline:
“I’d have a word with your marketing department on this one chief.”
The backlash was a setback for the state-owned airline after the EU’s aviation safety agency lifted the four-year ban.
The ban was imposed in 2020 when a PIA plane crashed in Karachi, killing 97 people.
Then-aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said an investigation into the crash found that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot exams.
A government probe later concluded that the crash was caused by pilot error.
Out of 860 pilots currently licenced in Pakistan, investigators identified 262 who “did not take the exam themselves” and “don’t have flying experience”.
PIA then grounded 150 of its pilots who were suspected of having cheated their way through their exams.
Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, said:
“We will make sure that unqualified pilots never fly an aircraft again.”
The ban caused a loss of nearly £123 million a year in revenue for PIA.
Despite the controversial Paris advert, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed flight resumptions to Europe, saying it would improve the airline’s image.
PIA said the first flight from Islamabad to Paris was fully booked.
Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif inaugurated the twice-a-week flights to Paris and vowed that PIA will expand its operations to other European countries soon.
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