Pakistan airline apologises for Eiffel Tower advert
The Peninsula
Islamabad: Pakistan s embattled national airline apologised on Friday for an advert of a plane flying at the Eiffel Tower, published to mark the first...
Islamabad: Pakistan's embattled national airline apologised on Friday for an advert of a plane flying at the Eiffel Tower, published to mark the first flight to Paris after a safety ban was lifted.
The image posted by state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to social media showed a plane aimed at the French landmark with the caption "Paris, we're coming today".
In thousands of comments online, users drew comparisons with the 2001 Al-Qaeda attacks on New York's Twin Towers, when two planes were hijacked and flown into the skyscrapers, killing nearly 3,000.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by US special forces in 2011, while a Pakistani militant currently held in Guantanamo Bay is considered the chief mastermind of the attack.
"Unfortunately, this was blown out of proportion with connations and perceptions that were not intended," PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan told AFP.