Instead of soft music, PIA to now welcome passengers with Qaseeda Burda Sharif

Published January 16, 2019
The Qaseeda Burda Sharif, a popular Islamic hymn, will be played while passengers board PIA airplanes. — Photo: PIA/File
The Qaseeda Burda Sharif, a popular Islamic hymn, will be played while passengers board PIA airplanes. — Photo: PIA/File

The Pakistan Internat­ional Airlines (PIA) has decided to welcome passengers on board with the Qaseeda Burda Sharif playing in the background, instead of soft music.

A rendition of the Qaseeda Burda Sharif, a popular Islamic hymn, will be played while passengers board PIA airplanes for all domestic and international flights, PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar told Dawn.com on Wednesday.

The hymn will also be played during taxiing — but only on flights heading to the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Madina.

The PIA spokesperson denied reports that the national flag-carrier had banned all sorts of music on its flights, saying passengers will have access to the inflight entertainment system available on the aircraft.

PIA flights traditionally also commence with a recitation of the Islamic prayer said at the start of a journey.

Opinion

Editorial

Ultimate price
Updated 02 Nov, 2024

Ultimate price

To dismantle culture of impunity for crimes against journalists, state must ensure that perpetrators do not go unpunished.
Mastung bombing
02 Nov, 2024

Mastung bombing

INSTABILITY continues to haunt Balochistan, as Friday morning’s bombing in Mastung has shown. At least nine...
Plane speak
02 Nov, 2024

Plane speak

DESPITE all its efforts to facilitate PIA’s privatisation, it seems the government only ended up being taken for a...
Seeking investment
Updated 01 Nov, 2024

Seeking investment

Foreign visits will be fruitless unless crucial structural, policy reforms directly affecting investors are focused.
State-backed terror
01 Nov, 2024

State-backed terror

OVER the past year or so, India’s reportedly malign activities in foreign countries have increasingly come under the radar, with
Shared crisis
01 Nov, 2024

Shared crisis

WITH Lahore experiencing unprecedented levels of smog, the Punjab government has announced a series of “green...