Islamabad: Pakistan Interior minister Ahsan Iqbal surprised passengers of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Islamabad to Lahore when he
travelled with them like a commoner.
Iqbal, who was the minister for planning and development in the previous Nawaz Sharif government, was spotted in the PIA flight from Islamabad to Lahore, sans any protocol, the Express Tribune reported.
He was elected as the interior minister in the new government led by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The minister disembarked from the plane and sat in the passenger van along with other passengers, entered the arrival without any staff from the FIA, ASF, Customs, Police and of course hangers-on receiving him.
He walked into the lounge like any other passenger and hopped in a car and headed home. Officials who have previously worked with him said that travelling without protocol is nothing new for Iqbal, giving examples of many occasions on which he shunned it, even when he was entitled to it.
An interior ministry source said the minister was making a surprise inspection of the airport and went without any protocol.
