Former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has said that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz asked him to buy the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and rebrand it as “Air Punjab”.
During a discussion with party supporters in New York, Nawaz quoted Maryam as saying we should buy PIA and name it ‘Air Punjab’ after making it the best airline.
Nawaz mentioned that he advised the Punjab chief minister that she could launch a new airline that would serve destinations all over the world. Maryam suggested purchasing it and establishing a brand-new airline with new planes.
The former prime minister said that he told Maryam to have consultations around it. He said that he told the Punjab CM that you can buy the PIA and also set up a new airline too and that Air Punjab should go from Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi to New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and every part of the world.
The former prime minister lamented that under ex-PM Imran Khan’s government the national carrier went under the water after then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar said pilots of PIA don’t have the required licences.
