Plane carrying Nawaz, Maryam enters Pakistan's airspace - watch live flight status
The flight is expected to reach Lahore around 8:58pm.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - The flight carrying former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam from Abu Dhabi has entered Pakistan s airspace .
The flight, EY-243, was scheduled to arrive in Lahore at 6:15pm but was delayed by more than two hours . The father-daughter duo are due in Lahore at approximately 9pm, according to latest flight details.
View status of Nawaz Sharif’s flight below:
Sharif was sentenced in absentia last week to 10 years in prison by a corruption court over the purchase of high-end properties in London, dealing a serious blow to his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party’s bid weeks ahead of the July 25 polls.
He has claimed he is being targeted by the military.
"I know that... I will be directly taken to jail," he said in a video released by his party Friday.
"I want to tell Pakistanis I have been doing this for you... Walk with me, join hands with me and change the destination of the country."
On Thursday his brother Shahbaz Sharif, who now heads the PML-N, said that hundreds of their workers and supporters had been arrested ahead of Nawaz’s expected return in what he said was "naked" pre-poll rigging against their party.
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The younger Sharif has pledged to marshal a welcome for the former prime minister, saying thousands of supporters would travel to Lahore airport to back Nawaz.
"The whole world knows that PML-N is being targeted," Shahbaz said. "We’ll go to the airport tomorrow despite this brutality, and we will remain completely peaceful."
Up to 8,000 police officers are set to be deployed in Lahore, according to police chief Sajjad Hasan Man. Containers could be seen blocking some Lahore roads on Friday morning, while travel to and from the airport had reportedly been restricted.
Authorities have pinpointed at least 50 locations in the city to block if needed, according to a police official, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Despite the crackdown, PML-N backers continued to flock to the city, vowing to confront authorities if challenged.
(With inputs from AFP)
