Air Punjab to take to the skies in April

PUNJAB: In the midst of a controversy surrounding the acquisition of a luxury aircraft for the chief minister, the provincial administration has now announced that Air Punjab, its flagship airline initiative, will commence operations in April with its inaugural commercial flight.

According to officials, the preparations for the launch of the airline are being expedited by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Initially, the airline will commence operations with a fleet of seven passenger aircraft and will operate only on domestic routes for the first two years. International flights will follow later.

According to officials, the Punjab provincial cabinet had approved the formation of Air Punjab (Private) Limited in November last year, with CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif presiding over the meeting. The company was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan at the Lahore Company Registration Office on July 24, 2025.

According to government officials, the chief minister's helicopter will also be added to the fleet of Air Punjab and will be the airline's first operational asset. According to them, no separate aircraft will be acquired for the chief minister or any other VIP. Instead, the chief minister, members of the cabinet, and other senior government officials will travel on Air Punjab flights.

According to officials, a plan has been finalized to ensure that the airline does not put an extra burden on the provincial exchequer. All aircraft, whether existing or new, will fly on a purely commercial basis. Whenever the chief minister travels in an Air Punjab plane, the full commercial rate will be paid, the officials said. This comes as criticism has been pouring in on social media regarding the purchase of a business jet, with people claiming that the public money has been used to buy a luxury plane for the use of the VIPs.

Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has denied these reports, saying that the plane in question is a part of a fleet that is being developed for Air Punjab.

However, a former federal finance minister, Miftah Ismail, while appearing on a talk show on a TV channel, contradicted the government's stance on the issue. He said that no commercial airline in the world inducts a luxury business jet into service, as such planes are economically unviable.

He said that the government was trying to justify its wasteful expenditure by trying to connect the luxury jet with Air Punjab, and that the 16-seater plane was actually meant for the chief minister and VIPs.

Some social media users also compared the expenditure on the luxury jet with the recent privatization of Pakistan International Airlines, claiming that while the national airline was sold for Rs10 billion, the Punjab government had spent more than that on a single luxury jet.

The luxury jet that has come under the scanner is a Gulfstream G500, which is priced at around Rs10-11 billion. The jet is registered in the United States with the registration number N144S and has not yet been registered in Pakistan.

The provincial government has also advertised vacancies for the airline's senior management, including chief executive officer, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, indicating progress toward operational readiness.