By Hadi Fornaji.
Tripoli, 7 September 2012:
Italy’s ENAV, which in the wake of the revolution provided free re-certification for Libyan air traffic controllers, has won a €1-million contract to train 140 new Libyan air traffic specialists. The two-week courses will be held at the ENAV Academy in Forlì in Emilia-Romagna from October to December this year.
Last December after the replacement of all the ground radar antennae at Tripoli International airport, destroyed in a NATO air strike, Transport Minister Yousef Wahashi headed a delegation to ENAV’s Rome HQ, where he thanked the Italians for their support. During that trip the director general of the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority, Abdulrazaq M. Zatout signed a memorandum of agreement with ENAV’s CEO Massimo Garbini.
This has now developed into the full-scale contract to train new Libyan air traffic controllers and give technical support countrywide to Libyan ATC. The engagement was not unexpected. In January 2011, just over a month before the revolution began, a Libya CAA delegation had made a fact-finding visit to ENAV.
Flights in and out of Libya were brought to a halt last December when air traffic controllers in Tripoli, Benghazi and Sebha went on strike over new management arrangements. The controllers had failed to give the required 72 hours notice of their action. Nevertheless, the dispute was settled quickly, after the strikers’ demands were met.
The state-owned ENAV, which runs ATC throughout Italy, has been expanding its provision of training to other countries. The company says that it is running ATC courses for Ukrainians, Poles and Chinese. It is also providing flight assistance services in Afghanistan and working on ATC ground control systems in Kenya, Romania and Rwanda. [/restrict]
