Chris
After an almost 10 year hiatus Turkish Airlines will start flying to Libya from Thursday 28th March 2024. MAviO News spoke to Libyan aviation expert Captain Nouman El-Ageli who shed light on the recent devlopments taking place in the Maghreb country. The Ministry of Transport in Libya is working tirelessly to solve safety issues with 5A- registered aircraft. It has embarked on an ambitious project that should see increased oversight by the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority. The present Libyan administration is determined to leave no stone unturned in order to guarantee the successful completion of the ICAO audit that should take place in the second half of this year..
In May of this year, Ghadames Air Transport intends to start flying a Boeing 777 from Tripoli to Istanbul while also using the widebody as a preighter on cargo flights from Mitiga to China. Fly Oya is another Libyan operator which is eyeing expansion. The latter mentioned airline is in advanced discussions with Egypt Air to acquire an Airbus A330 thus doubling its widebody fleet. It is also worth noting that Berniq Airways, which has its main base at Benina International Airport also intends to increase its reach by linking Benghazi to the hub in Dubai.
There is still uncertainty about when Libya will be removed from the EASA blacklist. Captain Ageli explained, that at present a number of operators in Libya are on the hunt for ACMI “capacity providers” so as to satisfy the ever-increasing demand of Libyans wanting to fly to Europe.
Marvic
