 "Why did UAE President MBZ bring so many cargo planes on his brief trip to Pakistan?")
A flurry of heavy cargo activity at remote Pakistani airstrips has raised eyebrows this week, coinciding with the high-profile, one-day official visit of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) on December 26.
While the official diplomatic agenda focused on a “strategic partnership” and multi-billion dollar investment pledges, flight tracking data revealed a massive logistics operation far removed from the capital’s red carpets.
Flight tracking information from publicly available sources, including Flight Radar and ADS-B Exchange, showed multiple heavy aircraft travelling from the UAE to Pakistan around the time of President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed’s visit.
UAE–Pakistan airlift 🇦🇪🇵🇰
— Rich Tedd 🛰 ✈️ (@AfriMEOSINT) December 23, 2025
I’ve tracked dozens of flights involving commercial cargo aircraft, UAE Air Force aircraft, and private jets linked to the UAE royal family operating between Abu Dhabi 🇦🇪 & Pakistan 🇵🇰, particularly Kandawari and Kot Chandana airstrips. 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/VSh0UjWYbR
The diplomatic front: Investment and ‘brotherhood’
Sheikh Mohamed was received at Nur Khan Airbase with a 21-gun salute and a guard of honor, met by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The visit, MBZ’s first official state trip to Pakistan since becoming president, was framed as a pivotal moment for Pakistan’s struggling economy.
Key highlights of the official talks included:
Discussions on expanding trade, which already sees the UAE as Pakistan’s third-largest partner.
Pledges to deepen collaboration in infrastructure, information technology, and the mineral sector.
A shared commitment to coordination on Middle Eastern and South Asian security issues.
The shadow logistics: Why the cargo planes?
Despite the formal ceremony in Islamabad, open-source flight intelligence (OSINT) tracked dozens of heavy-lift aircraft—including C-17 Globemasters, An-124s, and IL-76 freighters—operating between Abu Dhabi and remote regions of Pakistan.
Quick Reads
View AllThe flights did not land in Islamabad but were concentrated at private airstrips in interior Sindh (west of the Indus River), and Southern Punjab (near the Cholistan Desert).
Historically, these specific landing strips serve as the gateway for the Gulf royals’ annual Houbara Bustard hunting expeditions. The cargo surge reportedly involved the transport of luxury mobile camps, all-terrain vehicles, and highly trained falcons.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar later confirmed in a press briefing that the UAE President had indeed shortened the diplomatic portion of his stay to engage in hunting activities, a long-standing tradition that serves as an informal “soft power” pillar of UAE-Pakistan relations.
While Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal described the visit as a “major diplomatic breakthrough,” the scale of the hunting-related logistics continues to draw scrutiny from environmentalists. The Houbara Bustard is a protected migratory bird, and though Pakistan issues special hunting permits to Gulf royals as a diplomatic gesture, the practice remains a point of contention among local conservationists.
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