Plane heading towards Eiffel Tower: Pakistan International Airlines advert sparks controversy

The image refers to the first Pakistan Airlines flight that landed in Paris on January 10. (Screenshot)-@Official_PIA-X

This Thursday, January 10, the Pakistan International Airlines company shared a visual on social networks to announce the return of flights between the country and the French capital. An advertisement that could be very confusing.

“Is this a threat ?” wonders a Pakistani on the social network X. It is an announcement that has many Internet users talking on social networks. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) shared a post on the return of flights between Islamabad and Paris, suspended for four years.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

The airline's post shows a plane flying towards the famous Eiffel Tower accompanied by the caption “Paris, we arrive today”. An image that reminded many Internet users of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States.

Millions of views

The publication, which has accumulated more than 20 million views, is also under fire from critics in Pakistan. The country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Tuesday that an investigation would be opened into the misleading message of the image.

The airline’s advertisement refers to the company’s first flight landing in Paris on January 10, 2025. The four-year suspension followed a series of fatal accidents including the crash of an Airbus in Karachi in southern Pakistan, according to Courrier international. In 1970, PIA had already published an unsettling black-and-white advertisement showing the shadow of a Boeing 747 on the Twin Towers in New York.