Flying academy, Sky Wings, director Imran Aslam returned home after an hours-long “abduction” in Karachi on Friday.

Aslam released a statement after his recovery, saying: “I have safely returned home. I thank all media and well-wishers.”

The Sky Wings director went missing after unidentified men “picked him up” on Wednesday night, said the company manager. They took him from the airport’s Jinnah Terminal at 10pm last night.

The company manager claimed that the airport police refused to register a complaint of the alleged abduction.

Aslam is the director of the company, which is going to start air taxis for the first time in the country. He previously served as the CEO of the company.

Sky Wings is a flying training academy and working in Pakistan for the past three years.

In May, the private company announced its decision to introduce Pakistan’s first air taxi service after signing an agreement with a foreign investor. There were around 29 airstrips located throughout the country, with nearly eight of them fully operational.

It has been operating for the last two decades in multiple countries including the UAE and Canada where it operates air ambulance and chartered plane services. The company also offers aerial advertising and banner-towing services, which Khan told the Business Recorder earlier this month would gain traction during the general elections in 2023.

Khan had told the newspaper that his company had been posting a loss of Rs3 million per month since December 2022 as its airplanes were grounded because the firm was unable to open Letters of Credit (LCs) for fuel due to dollar shortage.

“We want to show the world that Pakistan is not all about Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and terrorism issues; it is a very diverse country and a land of opportunities,” Khan told Reuters in 2021.