WEBDESK - NAYADAUR
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is facing growing political and public scrutiny over her reported use of a Punjab government aircraft to travel to London for her daughter's graduation ceremony, despite government assurances that she will personally pay the expenses.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari has repeatedly defended the trip, saying that Maryam Nawaz had directed, before leaving Pakistan, that all costs associated with her London visit would be paid from her own funds.
Bukhari said critics had begun questioning the trip before the government could calculate the final cost. She said official expenses are assessed after a visit is completed and paid through established government procedures.
The controversy centers on Maryam Nawaz's three-day visit to Britain, which she described as private. She attended the graduation ceremony of her daughter, Mahnoor Safdar, who completed her studies at SOAS University of London.
Critics, however, have questioned why a provincial government aircraft was used for what was described as a private family visit.
Former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry criticized the use of public resources, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has called on the Punjab government to disclose receipts and payment details for the trip.
Bukhari rejected the allegations, saying Maryam Nawaz would bear the expenses herself. In a post on X, she said the chief minister had made her position clear before departing for London.
The debate intensified after critics demanded documentary evidence of the payments, arguing that a verbal assurance was insufficient and that receipts should be made public.
Pakistan Peoples Party leader Nadeem Afzal Chan also criticized the use of a provincial government aircraft for an overseas trip, arguing that chief ministers should not be allowed to take government aircraft abroad for personal travel.
Former finance minister Miftah Ismail cited the example of former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who traveled to the United States to visit his ill sister while also holding a previously scheduled meeting with then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
Ismail said Abbasi could have classified the journey as an official visit but instead traveled on a commercial airline and paid for his own ticket and that of his chief security officer.
The controversy also recalls earlier criticism of the Punjab government's reported purchase of a Gulfstream G500 aircraft, estimated at about 11 billion Pakistani rupees.
At the time, Bukhari said the aircraft was intended for Air Punjab, a proposed provincial airline, and would form part of its planned fleet. She said the airline was expected to begin operations in April, but it has not launched so far.
Prime Minister's adviser Rana Sanaullah had previously said the aircraft was not anyone's personal property but an asset of the Punjab government.
Aviation experts consulted for the report estimated that chartering a Gulfstream-class aircraft for a trip to London could cost well into the six figures in U.S. dollars.
An aviation company official in Lahore said private operators can charge between $12,000 and $15,000 per flight hour for such aircraft. A flight to London can take about seven hours, meaning a one-way journey could cost roughly $84,000 at the lower rate.
The round trip could therefore exceed $160,000, excluding additional expenses such as crew accommodation, meals, airport parking and handling charges.
The Punjab government has not publicly disclosed the final cost of Maryam Nawaz's London trip. Bukhari has maintained that the amount will be calculated after the visit and that the chief minister will pay it herself.
The dispute has consequently shifted from whether the trip was private to whether public resources were initially used and whether the government will provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate that taxpayers ultimately bore no cost.