PIA apologised after its plane-over-Paris return ad was read as echoing 9/11

PIA had resumed Paris flights after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted the ban imposed in June 2020, which followed a Karachi crash that killed nearly 100 people and allegations about pilots' licences. The airline wanted to celebrate its return to Europe.

The image went up on PIA's official X account on January 10, 2025, and stayed up. In thousands of comments, users compared it with the 2001 attacks on New York's Twin Towers, in which hijacked planes killed nearly 3,000 people. PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan said the response was 'blown out of proportion with connotations and perceptions that were not intended', adding: 'It might have triggered some negative emotion, for which we truly apologise.'

Around 60,000 to 70,000 negative reactions — less than 10% of engagement, per the airline. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an inquiry, with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar calling the advert 'stupidity'. The post remained online, and PIA said its Europe flights were operating at more than 95% capacity.

On January 10, 2025, state-owned Pakistan International Airlines posted an image to its official X account to mark its first flight to Paris since its safety ban was lifted: a PIA plane framed against the Eiffel Tower with the caption 'Paris, we're coming today'. The ban, in place since June 2020, had been lifted by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in November 2024 after the regulator said Pakistan had 're-established sufficient confidence' in its civil aviation oversight.

The image was read very differently from what was intended. In thousands of comments, users drew comparisons with the 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on New York's Twin Towers, in which two hijacked planes killed nearly 3,000 people. 'Is this (an) advertisement or threat?', one post asked. PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan told AFP the episode was 'blown out of proportion with connotations and perceptions that were not intended', and said: 'It might have triggered some negative emotion, for which we truly apologise.'

The political fallout went further than the comments. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said the prime minister had ordered an inquiry into an advert that 'shows stupidity'. PIA, for its part, pointed to the commercial reality: the response to its return to Europe had been 'extremely positive', with flights operating at more than 95% capacity — even as the airline remained barred from the UK and the US.

The ad failed on composition, not intent — but audiences read composition first, and an apology cannot unpublish an image's unintended meaning.

PIA's own numbers — 60,000 to 70,000 negative reactions, under 10% of engagement — show how a minority reading can still define a launch.

The comeback itself survived the misfire: demand held above 95% capacity, so the cost was reputational, not commercial.

Celebrate a comeback with the destination, not the trajectory: an approach path aimed at a landmark borrows imagery the internet already associates with catastrophe.

As of January 17, 2025, the post remained on X, a prime-ministerial inquiry had been ordered, and PIA's Paris flights continued at more than 95% capacity while its UK and US bans stayed in place.