The Punjab government has handed over the operational control and maintenance of its Gulfstream G500 luxury jet to the Pakistan Air Force, admitting that its own VIP Flight Wing could not manage the sophisticated aircraft on its own. The provincial cabinet has approved the transfer and a draft memorandum of understanding with the air force.
The jet, bought for a reported Rs10 billion, will now fly under a military tail number, maintained by air force engineers and flown in part by serving air force pilots. The handover admits that running a modern business jet is a far harder job than buying one.
Why the Air Force Is Taking Over
Official documents say the Punjab VIP Flight Wing could not operate and maintain the aircraft on its own. A Gulfstream G500 needs specialised engineers, trained technicians, modern maintenance facilities and a reliable supply of parts, all of which the Pakistan Air Force already has for its own fleets.
The jet has been deregistered from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and given a Pakistan Air Force tail number. Three serving air force pilots have been deputed to the Punjab government and now fly the aircraft alongside the province’s own pilots. The Additional Secretary (Welfare) will sign the memorandum for Punjab.
The government says the transfer will ensure safe flights and round-the-clock availability. What it has not said is how much it will pay the air force. Running such an aircraft costs hundreds of millions of rupees a year; the province has already approved a supplementary grant of more than Rs861.5 million for its operations.
A Purchase That Has Courted Controversy Since Day One
The roughly seven-year-old jet drew criticism from the moment reports of its price tag surfaced. It reached Lahore on December 28, 2025, and made its first domestic flight, from Lahore to Multan, on February 6, 2026. Its reported Rs10 billion cost soon became a fixture of political debate, with opposition parties calling it an extravagance.
The controversy sharpened when Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz used the jet for a trip to London to attend her daughter’s graduation. She defended the trip, saying the jet cost Rs9 billion, belonged to the Chief Minister’s Office, and that she had paid Rs27.5 million from her own pocket. Payment documents reported in September put the deposit at Rs27.19 million.
The Air Punjab Question
When the purchase first became public, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari defended it by saying the jet was part of a fleet being built for Air Punjab, the provincial airline announced in April 2025. The plan was for commercial domestic operations to begin in April 2026 with seven aircraft.
Aviation experts questioned that explanation almost immediately. A VIP-configured business jet seating around a dozen passengers cannot simply be put to work on commercial routes, and no commercial airline operates ten-to-sixteen-seat business jets as the backbone of a scheduled service. Former finance minister Miftah Ismail made the same point publicly.
The handover sits awkwardly alongside that justification: a jet bought to seed a commercial airline is now under military control. The fate of the wider Air Punjab plan is unclear, with no fresh timeline offered.
What the Aircraft Can Do
Whatever the politics, the Gulfstream G500 is a formidable machine. It can fly about 5,300 nautical miles without refuelling, enough to reach London from Lahore non-stop. It cruises at up to Mach 0.925 and can climb to 51,000 feet. Two Pratt and Whitney PW814GA engines power it, and it typically carries ten to twelve passengers.
A new G500 lists at roughly 48 million dollars, while a pre-owned one of this age typically sells for 30 to 42 million dollars. Running costs are equally steep, at several thousand dollars an hour once fuel, maintenance reserves and crew are counted. That is the practical case for the transfer.
What Happens Next
The next step is signing the memorandum, which will fix the financial and technical terms. Until that document is public, the most important question of all, how much Punjab will pay the air force each year to keep the jet flying, will remain unanswered. Taxpayers who funded the purchase and a grant of more than Rs861.5 million are entitled to know.
Beyond the money, it raises a wider question about how governments buy and manage expensive assets. The jet was purchased, defended as part of an airline that has yet to fly, used for a private trip, and is now being handed to the air force because the province could not run it. Each step seemed reasonable at the time, yet together they tell a story of a decision taken first and justified afterwards.
The air force will almost certainly run it safely and professionally. The harder test is whether the government can now be open about what the arrangement costs, what the jet is for, and what has become of the airline it was supposed to launch. Until then, the Gulfstream remains a symbol of how much a government can spend, and how little it sometimes explains.
