An account shared a picture of a PIA office with a pride flag hoisted over it on social media platform X on July 19, 2024, claiming it showed the organisation’s support for the LGBTQ+ community. However, the flag was put up by Amsterdam’s municipal government over a defunct PIA office.
Office of PIA displays pride flag
The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.
To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team contacted a spokesperson of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to corroborate the matter.
An image shared on social media platform X on July 19, 2024, showed a pride flag displayed above a PIA office with the claim that it showed the national carrier supporting the LGBTQ+ community. However, the office is long shutdown and the flag was placed by the local Amsterdam government.
On July 19, an account shared a picture of a PIA office with a pride flag displayed over it on social media platform X with the caption: “PIA supports pride.”
The user did not share other details of the picture such as the location of the office or the time and date the image was taken.
It gained over 38,000 views.
A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of a claim due to its virality and the contradictory nature of a Pakistan-associated institution openly displaying the pride flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community.
Contacting PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan for a comment on the image, he said the office was located in Amsterdam and shut down in 2018.
He said that every year the city celebrated the queer festival Amsterdam Pride from July 22-August 4.
The spokesperson said the flag was put up by the municipal government of Amsterdam only and shared pictures and videos of the street to corroborate his statement.
Sharing more visuals from the location, he also pointed out that the larger flags also had monograms of the municipality and did not represent PIA’s values.
He further said that PIA had rented out the office to another entity which would remove the national carrier’s name and logo once it was done with the renovation.
The claim regarding PIA supporting the LGBTQ+ community by displaying a pride flag above its office is false.
A spokesperson for the national carrier confirmed the office in Amsterdam was already long closed and the flag was put up by the municipal government.
