Who paid for Imran Khan’s private jet ride?

• Private aircraft used by PTI Chairman Imran Khan was bankrolled by a Dubai-based businessman.
• Aircraft is owned by Karachi-based company Engro.
• For round trip, private aviation company was paid Rs2.9 million by a Pakistani businessman in Dubai.

The private aircraft used by former prime minister Imran Khan, to travel to Karachi from Islamabad, was bankrolled by a Dubai-based businessman, those privy to the developments revealed.

On Saturday, Khan, also chairman of the PTI, boarded a chartered aircraft at 8:30pm, from Islamabad to Karachi to attend his scheduled political rally in the city.

The aircraft is registered as AP-PLE and is owned by the Karachi-based company, Engro. It has been leased out to an aviation company.

According to sources in the aviation industry, after reaching Karachi, the aircraft developed a technical fault due to which Khan had to be flown back to Islamabad in another chartered plane of the company.

For the round trip, the private aviation company was paid Rs2.9 million, which was provided by a Pakistani businessman in Dubai.

Ahsan Iqbal, a senior leader of the PML-N, shared a picture of Khan exiting the aircraft and tweeted that it was “highly unprofessional” of Engro that its private jet was being “used for an anti-government rally.”

“Please know your limits being a public listed company; it is not personal fiefdom,” Iqbal added in reference to Engro.

Under which PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan responded that corporations aim to maximise “shareholder’s profit”, adding that this meant “they [the company] will not allow any asset to be underutilised. If an aircraft owned by a company is sitting idle it is not earning any money and is rented out.”

Separately, Engro has also put out a statement on Twitter, clarifying that the plane is owned by Engro Fertilizers, but it has been chartered to a private company, Princely Jet.

“Engro did not bear any expenses related to the flight,” it further added in the statement.