Pak Clip Passed Off as Air India Flouting Social Distancing Norms
The video does not show an Air India flight, rather it’s a Pakistan International Airlines flight to Toronto.
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A viral video is being shared to claim that social distancing norms were not followed on an Air India flight. It further mentioned that the passengers were charged thrice the amount for the ticket and were assured that only one seat per row will be used.
However, we found that the video does not show an Air India flight, rather it’s a Pakistan International Airlines flight to Toronto.
CLAIM
In the video, the passengers can be heard telling the flight crew that they were charged $3,000 for the tickets and no social distancing is being followed in the flight. They question the flight staff on why the flight is carrying so many passengers.
Several social media users shared the video on Facebook and Twitter with similar claims.
The Quint received a query on the claim made in the video on its WhatsApp helpline.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We searched on Google using keywords “flight social distancing passengers complain” and found an ANI article with the headline: "So, coronavirus outside but not inside flight?: Amateur video shows Pakistanis complaining about no social distancing in PIA flight”
The article suggested that the flight seen in the viral video is a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight.
Further, we searched on YouTube using keywords: “PIA flight social distancing” and found a bulletin uploaded by Pakistani news channel GNN, on 26 April, that showed the same visuals seen in the viral video.
Further, a keyword search on Twitter led us to a tweet shared by GEO News journalist Murtaza Ali Shah in which he mentioned that flight seen in the video is a PIA flight.
Pakistani news channel Samaa TV reported on 26 April that the passengers complained after the social distancing norms were flouted on a PIA flight to Toronto.
The article mentioned that the passengers were charged $3,000 instead of the normal $1,400 fare and were made to sit next to each other instead of maintaining a one-seat gap.
However, the PIA spokesperson claimed that all the safety measures including disinfecting the plane, providing masks and gloves to passengers were ensured.
“The tickets were overpriced because the flight had to come back from Canada empty,” he told Samaa TV.
The fact-checking arm of Press Information Bureau also tweeted to state that the video in question does not show an Air India flight.
Evidently, a video showing a flight run by Pakistan International Airline in which the passengers complained about social distancing norms being flouted was falsely claimed to be that of an Air India flight.
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