Fact-check: Pride flag displayed at PIA's Amsterdam office?

PIA office in Amsterdam shown in photo, has been closed since 2018, according to a senior official

Updated Friday Jul 26 2024

A photograph circulating online purportedly shows a rainbow-striped pride flag displayed above an office of the state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

The claim is misleading and omits important context.

Claim

On July 19, a user on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a photo allegedly of a PIA office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, with a pride flag on display.

“PIA supports pride,” wrote the user in a post that has accumulated over 39,000 views and 714 likes to date.

The image was shared by other users with similar claims on the microblogging website as well.

Fact

The PIA office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, shown in the photo, has been closed since 2018, according to a senior official. While the pride flag was actually hung by the local municipal government, not by the PIA itself.

Abdullah Hafeez Khan, the spokesperson for the national carrier, confirmed that the PIA office in the viral image was closed in 2018 when PIA ceased flights to the city. He also explained that the building, owned by PIA, was leased to another company last year.

Khan further clarified that the local municipal government had decorated the entire street, including the PIA building, with pride flags in anticipation of an upcoming pride week from July 27 to August 4.

Images shared with Geo Fact Check show multiple flags displayed on other buildings along the street.

Photographs of the street where PIA’s office is located shows other pride flags also on display. Images shared by PIA spokesperson on July 23