She was offloaded from the plane for 'illegally' using an official 'Blue' passport. Sources said that the PTI leader was traveling to Dubai from Islamabad International Airport.
The official Blue passport is issued to government officials and employees, and allows them to travel to around 70 countries without having to go through visa formalities. However, once an individual is no longer a government employee, they are required to hand in the blue passport.
Firdous was a special assistant Punjab chief minister during the Usman Buzdar government, but the FIA sources said that she had not returned her official passport after the government switched hands and she was no longer a public office holder.
Immigration officials at the airport told Firdous that she could not travel using this passport, and the official passport in question was then confiscated by the FIA.