Pakistan Airlines comes under fire for ‘tone deaf’ advert ‘showing jet flying into the Eiffel Tower’ – as it resumes Europe flights after four-year safety ban [Video]

11:41 EST 10 Jan 2025, updated 12:38 EST 10 Jan 2025

A Pakistan Airlines advert has come under fire for appearing to show a jet flying into the Eiffel Tower as the company resumes its Europe flights following a four-year safety ban.

Pakistan’s national airline, which was banned from flying to the UK, US and EU in 2020, posted an image on social media showing a plane and the monument against the French flag, alongside the caption: ‘Paris, we’re coming today.’

But online critics blasted Pakistan International Airline’s (PIA) advert, claiming it appears to show the jet heading straight for the Paris landmark.

Omar R Quraishi, a Pakistani PR expert and former adviser to politician Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, branded the campaign ‘completely tone deaf’. 

He wrote on X: ‘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 9/11tragedy – which used …