Former prime minister and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz took off from Abu Dhabi for Lahore shortly after 6pm on the last leg of their journey home from London.
Their flight, Etihad Airways flight EY243, earlier scheduled to land at 6.15pm local time at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, took off from Abu Dhabi at 6.02pm PST after it suffered a nearly three-hour delay. It is now expected to land shortly before 9pm PST.
The flight’s progress can be tracked live over here.
An airport official, when approached by our correspondent, had stated the reason for the hold-up in Abu Dhabi as a delay in an Etihad flight arriving from Bangkok, which was supposed to fly EY243’s passengers to Lahore.
The father-daughter duo will likely be arrested on their arrival at Lahore airport, from where they are expected to be taken to Islamabad by helicopter and moved to Adiala jail. The state has also provisioned for the eventuality of the flight being diverted to Islamabad in case of ‘inclement weather’.
Cellphone services have been suspended in certain parts of Lahore in anticipation of their arrival, and contingents of Rangers have been deployed at and around Lahore Airport.
