The MQM-P has hired the services of Sky Wings, a private aviation academy, to boost its election campaign days before the country opens its polling booths for over 128 million registered voters on February 8.
The Civil Aviation Authority has granted permission to the Sindh-based party’s request that sought the use of small aircraft for wooing voters in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, and Nawabshah.
“The company would undertake multiple leaflets dropping flights from aircraft over district south areas excluding red-zone on February 3 and 4,” according to the company’s request to the Nawabshah deputy commissioner on January 25.
Separately, an application was also sent to the Karachi commissioner which was signed by party convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui.
The campaign is being sponsored by Syed Sajjad Hussain Shah Taqvi, the MQM-P candidate from NA-207 and PS-37.
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.
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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.
The MQM-P gathered a large number of supporters in its rally on January 21. Roads leading to the city’s Numaish area were reported to be jammed in the evening as workers in public buses were seen going for the rally.
The MQM-P would be up against PPP, PTI, JI, and TLP in the economic hub of Pakistan next month. The PML-N, which seems to be a juggernaut in polls, has sought MQM-P support on some national assembly and provincial assembly seats.