While Supreme Court has summoned Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the capacity of chief executive officer (CEO) of Airblue, the airline company mentions Tariq Chaudhry as the company CEO on its official website, Pakistan Today has observed.
In the corporate information page of Airblue’s website, Tariq Chaudhary has been designated as the CEO of the company with no position in the senior management held by PM Abbasi.
Moreover, the airline’s deputy managing director Raheel Ahmed told media that Abbasi was previously the chief operating officer (COO) of Airblue, however, he stepped down after becoming a federal minister.
Usually regarded as the owner of Airblue, Abbasi founded the airline in 2003. In 2016, during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum, when MQM’s Abdul Waseem accused Abbasi of benefiting from the PIA crisis, he responded that he had no shareholding in Airblue and had not visited its office for over two years.
The prime minister was issued a summons by the apex court during a case relating to fake degrees obtained by pilots. The three-member bench, including Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, fixed the appearance of the top officers of the airline after deliberating for four months on the case.
During the case proceeding, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Director Nasir Shah informed the bench that PM Abbasi is the CEO and president of Airblue.
“We summon the CEO of Airblue,” CJP Nisar ordered, adding that Abbasi will present himself as the chief of Airblue and not as the prime minister. He said that the issue is a grave conflict of interest. “The chiefs of PIA, Serene, Shaheen and Airblue are all summoned,” he added.
